Avir MEA © 170208 (AS214,207,194) Avir at the Kotel
Avir’s visit to the Kotel, Jerusalem
During their stay in Jerusalem, the majority of the 3.5 million tourist visiting Israel each year find themselves at the Kotel (also called the Western Wall). And this was the case with Avir. This photo- montage depicts Avir at the Wall reading and praying. It has been a place of prayer and pilgrimage for centuries. People write prayers and place them in the crevices of the Wall. More than a million notes are left each year. Every six months the notes are collected and buried in the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
The Kotel is the western retaining wall of the Second Temple Mount complex situated in Jerusalem. Built by Herod the Great in the First Century B.C., the Kotel stands at the foot of the Temple mount’s western side. For almost nineteen-hundred years, the Jewish people were exiled from their homeland, with little opportunity of making Jerusalem and the Kotel part of their everyday lives. However, when Israel was granted Statehood in 1948, it found itself in a bitter war against the Jordanian army who took over lands from East Jerusalem to the Jordan River—lands which the United Nations awarded Israel. In 1967 when Israel recaptured these same lands, they annexed this area for prayer and study. It is hard to believe that the United Nations and the media have convinced the world that Israel no longer own these lands, and should not build on these ‘occupied’ territories. Rather bazaar really.
Anyhow, this Jewish Homeland has drawn this part of the Temple into their hearts and minds, and the Kotel is host to hundreds and thousands of people who come for the many religious celebrations, such as daily and national prayers, Bar-Mitzvahs, the ancient annual Aaronic Priestly Blessing over the people. Also, the Nation gathers for the traditional annual celebrations in Jerusalem of Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentacost) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).
Should you want to visit the Kotel from your home, any time from anywhere in the world, you can do so by logging on to the real-time live-feed webcam at the Kotel: www.aish.com/w/ Perhaps you might like to see a friend waving at you from the Kotel—only remember to check the time difference.