The Western Wall (Wailing Wall), Jerusalem

Favorite thing: There is a plant between the rocks of the western wall.
The name of the plant is Capparis spinosa (in hebrew it is "Tsa'laf").

There is a legend about the plant :

When the romans attacked Jerusalem there was a boy called Tsalaf (the hebrew meaning of sniper) that stood on the western wall and fired arrows on the romans so they couldnt pass.
The roman's millitary leader saw that and ordered to enter from the north entry and they broke into the temple mount and destroyed the temple.

The roman's millitary leader came behind the boy to kill him but he was amazed that it was just a small boy.

Before he killed him the boy started to get down on the wall and just before the romans killed him with their arrows he became a plant - a caper.

The roman's millitary leader ordered his soldiers to get down the wall and bring him the plant but each one of them fell after the thorns of the plant injured them.

And now only the western wall was left and the plant is still watching the people praying.

Favorite thing: The Western Wall in the midst of the Old City in Jerusalem is the section of the Western supporting wall of the Temple Mount which has remained intact since the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple (70 C.E.). It became the most sacred spot in Jewish religious and national consciousness and tradition by virtue of its proximity to the Western Wall of the Holy of Holies in the Temple, from which, according to numerous sources, the Divine Presence never departed. It became a center of mourning over the destruction of the Temple and Israel's exile, on the one hand, and of religious - in 20th century also national - communion with the memory of Israel's former glory and the hope for its restoration, on the other. Because of the former association, it became known in European languages as the "Wailing Wall".

Favorite thing: Visit the Wailing Wall, where Jews from all over the world come and pray. It's an old custom to write down your request and put the note in one of the cracks in the wall. Once this was done the request should be granted by god. These notes are collected from time to time and are burried as holy artifacts. Using modern technology, one can fax his note and have it inserted into one of the cracks.

Favorite thing: As soon as we arrived to the Wall, Zohara told me that it is typical to ask something to God by writing a note and leaving it on the cracks of the wall.

I do not know if he/she (God) will hear me, but just in case.... I did it.

These notes are supposed to be pick up and be treated as holy things taken into fire.

In the modern times, you can also send a fax or email with your wish and they will put for you in the wall.

The web site where you can send the player, is this one:

http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/sendaprayer/

Favorite thing: Here you can see the Moslem Mosque that stands upon the ruins of the Jewish Temple. The mosque was orignally constructed to prevent the rebuilding of the Jewish temple, today it is one of the main mosques in Jerusalem.

Favorite thing: This is a closeup showing the papers stuffed in each and every crack of the wailing wall. As high as you can reach, and some higher, as if the person who put them there was riding on the back of another person. You can see for yourself that there is zero room for more. Each small scratch, crack or joint is filled with these prayer papers. I believe they come periodically and clean them out, otherwise over the space of a few weeks the believers would fill up every available space. Carmen, Zohara and Tal all put in papers in the womens section...

Favorite thing: I told you about the belief that if you left a prayer at the wailing wall that god would answer it. Well here is one of the super religious Jews here at the wailing wall, with his mobile phone, I guess he had a direct line to god.

Favorite thing: The Western Wall is the proper name for the remains of this temple, but it is better known as the wailing wall. Here you can see the mens section and the men sitting down to pray for hours. The men in the black hats (you can see one in the far distance) are from one of the super religious sects in Judiasm and they will STAND at the wall with prayer books in hand nodding their heads in a back and forth rythm. This type of "nodding" is called davening, what it is for have no idea, but they stand there bobbing back and forth and mumbling to themselves

Favorite thing: Zohara and Tal took Carmen to get a closer look and explained to her the "belief" that here at this holy relic of the Jewish empire that was lost, if you put a piece of paper in the wall with your prayer printed upon it, that GOD will read it and answer your prayer. So far I have never met anyone for whom this worked, but maybe they all asked to be taken to heaven immediately.....

Favorite thing: Visit the Western Wall also known as the Wailing Wall. It is a surviving remnant of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. When King Solomon built the Temple, he specifically asked God to heed the prayer of the non Jew who comes to the Temple.

When the Temple was destroyed, the Sages prophesied that the Divine Presence will never leave the Western Wall.

The Talmud teaches that when the Temple was destroyed all the Gates of Heaven were closed - except for one,the Gate of Tears. that is how the Western Wall became known as the Wailing Wall.

Fondest memory: Tradition that is centuries old tells us to place a note with a prayer in the Western Wall.
You can have a prayer placed in the Western Wall via the internet at :

http://www.aish.com/wallcam/Place_a_Note_in_the_Wall.asp