The Western Wall Heritage Foundation conducted its traditional clearing of prayer notes from between the stones of the Western Wall ahead of the High Holidays, removing petitions placed there over the past six months.
The notes will be buried in a designated genizah, a repository for sacred texts and writings containing divine names.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, oversaw the removal and offered a prayer for Jewish unity and for the acceptance of the prayers contained in the thousands of notes.
The clearing was performed according to Jewish law, using gloves and disposable wooden implements to preserve the sanctity of the site and the privacy of the personal requests. The notes were collected in special bags and will be buried alongside worn sacred books in permanent storage.
The Foundation reports that hundreds of notes arrive daily through its website, in addition to hundreds of thousands more placed personally by worshippers and visitors throughout the year. Particularly notable recently are notes sent through the Foundation's website by citizens of countries hostile to Israel, including Iran, Yemen, Iraq, Qatar, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sudan, Jordan, Egypt, Kazakhstan and others, containing moving requests, primarily prayers for peace reconciliation and building relationships between peoples and nations.
Over the past year, prayer notes were sent through the Western Wall Heritage Foundation's website from more than 140 countries and territories worldwide, all transferred for placement between the Wall's stones.
Alongside the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Ukraine and Canada, notes also arrived from distant and unexpected countries, including India, South Africa, Indonesia, Taiwan, Jamaica, Kenya and Nigeria, reflecting the global, boundary-crossing connection to the Western Wall.
