western wall photo album
DESCRIPTION
Photos of sights around the Western Wall PlazaTRANSCRIPT
THE WESTERN WALL
Jerusalem
December 2008
The Western Wall is the section of the western supporting wall of the
Temple Mount which was not destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E.
During the Ottoman Period (16th century), the Jews came here to lament the
destruction of the Temple. It was then located in a narrow alley just 3.6 m
wide that could accommodate only a few hundred worshipers.
In 1967, immediately after the Six Day War, Israelis levelled the
neighbouring Arab district to create the Western Wall Plaza (80 m wide),
which can accommodate tens of thousands of pilgrims.
At the same time, the Israelis
made the wall about 1.8 m
higher by digging down and
exposing two more tiers of
ashlars (squared stones) from
the Temple Plaza's retaining
wall that had been buried by
accumulated debris for
centuries.
Today, we can see 28 stone
courses. Starting from the
base:
7 from the Herodian
Period/Second Temple period
(1st century BCE)
4 from the Umayyad period (7th
century CE)
14 from the Ottoman period
(16th century CE)
3 from the Muslim cleric of
Jerusalem before 1967
Jews come here to pray as they
believe that the Divine
Presence never moves from the
Western Wall
Wash basins and water
containers with 2 handles are
provided for the Jews to wash
their hands before prayers
They would wash the right
hand, using the left handle to
hold the container, before the
left
The Jews stand at the wall to
read the Psalms or pray,
swaying as they do so
Written prayers are studded in
between the cracks in this
open synagogue
An ultra-orthodox Jew
(left) in his black suit
A modern orthodox Jew
(right) wearing jeans
An orthodox Jew with
his tefillin (phylacteries
on his head and the
straps around his hand)
and tallit (prayer shawl
with 613 fringes at the
4 corners = the 613 oral
traditions)
Chinese Jew
Every male has to wear
head covering when
entering sacred Jewish
worship places in Israel
Bar Mitzvah (‘son of the commandment’) is celebrated at the Western
Wall Plaza every Monday & Thursday
The 13-year old Jewish boy comes of age & is morally responsible for
his actions
It is a joyous time that is celebrated with the family
The procession begins outside the Plaza
The ceremony
is performed
during the
Shacharit
(morning
prayers)
The highlights:
The celebrant
puts on the
tefillin, wears
the tallit, and is
called up to the
Torah reading
for the first time
The women folk
stood on boxes,
peering from
their side of the
fence
After the
reading of the
Torah, the bar
mitzvah boy
parades around
with the Torah
Scrolls,
accompanied by
lots of singing
& dancing
In an alley
some distance
away from the
Plaza, women
prepare food
for the party
that ends the
ceremony
Below the Plaza are the
Western Wall Tunnels
Originally explored by two
British archaeologists (Charles
Wilson, in 1864; and Charles
Warren, in 1867-1870) who
found that the Wall continued
for 320 m and that some
structures still existed from the
Second Temple period
The Israeli government
continued the northern
exploration by excavating a
tunnel along the entire length
of the Wall which is now 488 m
in length
The Western Wall Tunnel lies
below the Plaza & has 7 stone
courses from the Second
Temple Period
Look at how enormous the
stones of the master course are
The stones are held together
without the use of mortar
The largest stone of the master
course is 13.6 m x 4.5 m x 3.5
m and weighs 570 tons
This portion of the Western
Wall was built by Herod
around 19 BCE
Hadrian converted Herod’s moat & pool into a market place
Inside the tunnels, you can see many other things: a synagogue at the
entrance gate to the Temple Mount, a 14th century medieval cistern, a
Hasmonean cistern & water tunnel, a Second Temple period street,
quarry, & dam, & many other interesting sights
We emerge out of the tunnels
into the bright sunlight of the
Via Dolorosa
From here, we can see the
remains of the triumphal arch
erected under Hadrian (135
CE) to celebrate the capture of
Jerusalem
The left arch, which no longer
exists
The right arch is still
preserved today inside the
Church of the Sisters of Zion