The Western Wall has undergone some spring cleaning in honor of the Jewish Passover holiday. Twice a year, the chief rabbi of the Western Wall and his team meticulously clean the wall and gather hundreds of thousands of notes left by worshipers in the ancient cracks. Cleaning occurs prior to Passover and Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.
Each year, millions of worshipers visit the wall and as has become a tradition, leave a personal prayer note written to God. The chief rabbi, Shmuel Rabinowitz, makes sure there is room for future prayers. After carefully gathering all the notes, they are not thrown out or burned as one may think. Rather, they are carefully buried in the holy soil of Israel.
“It is almost Passover and for months, people have been putting in their requests to the Creator of the world. We pray that God will hear their prayers. This is the place where King Solomon asked that God should hear every prayer, every request, of every person,” Rabbi Rabinowitz said.
In order to prevent any damage to the fragile stones, the cleaning team use sticks to extract notes from some of the smallest cracks in the wall.
“It is written in the Torah not to put iron on the alter on sacred things. Iron is something that kills; iron is something that destroys. We use wood, something that doesn’t desecrate, doesn’t hurt, doesn’t destroy. That is what they did at the time of the temple and that is what we do here,” Rabinowitz explained.
On an average day, the Western Wall Plaza is filled with worshipers from all around the world who line the wall deep in prayer. The Western Wall dates back to the Second Temple that was destroyed in 70 CE. The wall itself is part of the larger Temple Mount compound.
The entire wall is approximately 500 meters (1,650 feet) in length. Many do not realize that most of the wall actually stretches underground. The part that is exposed, where people gather to pray, is about 50 meters long and 15 meters high (165 x 50 feet).
While many people may not be able to make it to Israel to pray in person, letters are sent to the wall by fax or email. Rabinowitz said that each year, he places hundreds of letters into the wall that he receives from the post office that are addressed to “God in Jerusalem.”
