Kotel Birkat Kohanim Twice This Sukkot for Record Crowds

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation has completed preparations for the hundreds of thousands of worshippers and visitors expected at the Western Wall plaza during Sukkot 5787. The preparations come after approximately two million people visited the site during the month of Elul and the Ten Days of Repentance.

As part of the arrangements, the Foundation has erected three central, mehadrin sukkahs in the Western Wall plaza for the use of visitors wishing to fulfill the mitzvot of taking the four species and dwelling in the sukkah. In an extensive halachic article, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, noted that the sukkah on the Strauss House terrace has also been certified as mehadrin, both in its walls and in the s'chach covering the pergola.

Rabbi Rabinowitz's halachic ruling was joined by Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl, Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Rabbi Eliyahu Fried, and Rabbi Yisroel Schechter. The Committee for Sukkah Matters, headed by Rabbi Moshe Edelerd and Rabbi Yoel Saprin, dayan of the Ramot neighborhood, also visited the sukkahs and praised their meticulous kashrut standards.

For the first time, the Foundation has also placed a small sukkah above the cold water fountains at the entrance to the prayer plaza, enabling those who refrain from drinking water outside a sukkah to do so.

Birkat Kohanim Ceremony on Two Days

This year, the traditional Birkat Kohanim ceremony will take place on two separate days in the presence of tens of thousands of worshippers. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation announced that the decision was made to allow the massive crowds to participate in the central ceremony.

The first ceremony will be held on Monday, 17 Tishrei 5787 (September 28, 2026), and the second on Thursday, 20 Tishrei 5787 (October 1, 2026). Shacharit will begin at 8:45 AM, the first Birkat Kohanim of Shacharit at 9:15 AM, Musaf at 10:15 AM, and the second Birkat Kohanim of Musaf at 10:30 AM.

The ceremonies are expected to include former captives marking one year since their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza, bereaved families, and IDF soldiers wounded during Operation Swords of Iron.

A "Kabbalat Pnei Rabo B'regel" ceremony with the Chief Rabbis of Israel and the Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites will take place immediately following prayers at the first Birkat Kohanim ceremony on Monday, with thousands of worshippers receiving holiday blessings from the rabbis.

The customary Hakafot Shniyot celebration will be held at the Western Wall plaza on Motzaei Simchat Torah, Saturday night, 23 Tishrei (October 3, 2026), beginning at 10:00 PM, accompanied by an orchestra.

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation requests that the public follow the instructions of security personnel for the safety of all visitors. Entrances to the Old City and the Western Wall will be closed if overcrowding occurs. The public is advised to follow announcements and updated instructions as they are issued.