The first time I went to Jerusalem I was trembling with excitement. Finally after many, many years of hearing about it and looking at pictures from books and travel brochures, I am now able to see it with my own eyes. My mind was only on one site..the Wailing Wall. Approaching the Old City of Jerusalem where it is located gave me goosebumps like I never experienced in my life. And walking along the ancient stone pavements towards the wall was just as dramatic as when from a top, I got a glimpse of one of the holiest places in the world.
The wall is divided into two sections: for men and women. The section designated for men was much bigger. There you see rabbis, religious men wearing their black suits and black hats, regular men with kipas (head cap) holding the torah, moving back and forth, in prayer. Some would touch the wall with eyes closed while others would touch their foreheads and kiss it while still, some would raise their hands to the sky . I can hear men praying out loudly.
I went to the women's section, said an intense prayer and just like so many, placed a note in between the cracks on the wall. When leaving the Wailing Wall, it was encouraged to walk backwards, facing the wall.
Just standing and watching all the sounds and activities around, I felt close to God physically.
We took the tour of the famous wall. Apparently, the walls go below the plaza we were on. Its total length is 105 feet and the ones which were exposed were only 62 feet high. We were brought to the underground section of the walls, sometimes passing through narrow walkways. The stones that make up the walls were gigantic weighing between 2 and 8 tons. The walls were the only surviving section of the Temple of God which was destroyed twice and rebuilt once by King Herod.
There were many people taking the tour, some in groups while others, like us went without a guide. Finally, we found ourselves exiting the underground section and out to the Palestinian side of the wall. We had to walk back towards the Jewish territory.
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Tags:
wailing wall,
jerusalem
Categories:
Holy Sites