THE WESTERN WALL

THE WESTERN WALL’S SIGNIFICANCE

• The western wall is considered holy because of its connection to the Temple Mount. Because the Temple Mount is hard to enter, the wall is the holiest place for Jews to pray.

THE HISTORY

• The wall was built by Herod the Great in 19 BCE
• The wall was built to support the earth fills that were needed to give the natural hill a geometrically regular shape.

WAILING WALL

• The term “wailing wall” stemmed from the Jewish practice of coming to the wall to mourn for the destruction of the Temple

1929 Palestine riots

• Because of the Zionist movement, the wall became a source of friction between Muslim and Jewish communities
• Violence at the wall became commonplace, and one particular one (Palestine riots) was where 133 Jews were killed and 339 were injured

PHYSICAL INFORMATION

• The wall is approximately 62 feet high
• The wall is made up of 48 limestone courses

TOURISM

• People used to take chips off of the wall, or gather sand from the cracks as souvenirs. Now, these acts are considered desecration. The only thing from the wall that you can take, is the vegetation growing in it as it is not considered holy.

WRITTEN PRAYERS

• It is common to place written prayers into the crevices of the wall. More than a million of the notes are placed a year.