Jerusalem--The Jewish Quarter
Another excerpt from my journal, September 1st, 1989:
"I saw a whole new side of the Old City today. We went through the Dung Gate into the Jewish quarter of the city. It was clean, it was much less busy, more quiet, and more comfortable....We saw the Wailing Wall where the Jews say their prayers....Then we wandered the streets, which are more like alleys they are so narrow..."
The Wailing Wall is what is left of the Second Temple, or Herod's Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. The women pray on the south side. The men pray on the north side, and bar mitzvahs are held there as well. Although you can't see them in these pictures, thousands of prayers written on small pieces of paper are stuffed into the cracks and crevices in the wall.
Labels: Israel Fall 89
posted by Harmony @ 9:53 PM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
What do the with the prayers after a while? Does someone collect them? Kind've reminds me of names given to the temple.
I remember cherishing each of your letters from Israel and telling myself that I'd never be happy with just a week-long visit. I'd want to do an entire semester the way you did. I still wish for that!!
Thanks for supporting me while I did it Mom. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Missy, I've wondered the same thing! I suspect they just leave them there, but occasionally sweep up the ones that fall on the ground.
I'm so glad you are posting these memories.
When we visited the wall, our guide said they gathered the prayers and saved them. I don't remember how long or what they finally did with them.
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