The Western Wall

This evening (Thursday), the candle for the first night of Chanukah was lit at Wilson’s Arch in the Western Wall Tunnels in the presence of: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; U.S. Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman; Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz; Director of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, Mordechai (Suli) Eliav.

Earlier this evening, the traditional candle-lighting took place at the Western Wall Plaza in the presence of: The Rishon Lezion and Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef; Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz; Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, Rabbi Rafi Peretz. The format was limited with arrival and stay at the Western Wall Plaza during the lighting taking place in accordance with Health Ministry regulations.

The Rishon Lezion and Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef: “

As part of the preparations for tourism coming from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and other countries, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation has initiated Arabic versions of the information page, guide, and the map distributed to those who come to the Western Wall.
The Western Wall brochures are distributed for free to all who come to the Western Wall. The brochures in Arabic were produced in honor of the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and countries which will hopefully follow in their footsteps. They present visitors with information about the heritage of the Western Wall, its customs and traditions.
Copies of the brochures will be distributed also to the Tourism Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Government Press Office, and the Jerusalem Municipality’s Tourism Office as part of the State of Israel’s preparation for the era of peace and friendship with the sons of Abraham in the Middle East.

For the first time since the pandemic erupted, about 300 Paratroopers came to the Western Wall for their exciting end of trainings. They were also divided into "capsules", as per Health Ministry regulations.

Rabbi, Professor, and Lord Jonathan Sacks zz”l, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, passed away this past Shabbat. He told of coming to Israel immediately following the Six Day War.
“I had come to study in Israel…and was standing on the newly rebuilt Hebrew University campus on Mount Scopus as the sun began to set, bathing the whole landscape in a divine radiance.
As I found myself looking down on the Temple Mount, I recalled the famous story at the end of Masechet Makot, where Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues are looking down at the ruins of the Temple…As the rabbis wept, Rabbi Akiva smiled and laughed, and when asked how he could, Rabbi Akiva retold the two interlinked prophecies of Uriah – who foresaw the day when Jerusalem would be ruined – and Zachariah – who saw the day it would be rebuilt.
Said Rabbi Akiva, until he saw the first prophecy fulfilled, he was not sure the second would be. Now he had seen the first prophecy fulfilled, he knew the second would one day also come true.
I remember standing at almost that exact spot and being overwhelmed with emotion.
For almost 2,000 years, Jews had waited for that moment, and ours was the generation that lived to see Jerusalem reunited and rebuilt…
We had lived to see in person what our greatest prophets could only see in a vision.”
Am Yisrael lost its most profound and articulate representative to the nations of the world.
We long for the great people who are lost to us but who will never be forgotten

This morning (Monday), over 2,000 worshippers came to the Western Wall Plaza including worshippers of “netz” early morning prayers and bar mitzvah families who returned to celebrate bar mitzvahs and connect to our heritage here at the Western Wall, in the open air.
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation is preparing for prayers amid the coronavirus restrictions even in the rain which began to fall last night. The Foundation set up prayer areas (capsules) in accordance with regulations and added coverings to allow for prayer services to continue unabated even in rainy weather.