Western Wall

Overview

The Western Wall is a limestone retaining wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. Jews venerate it as a surviving part of the Temple Mount platform, the site of the First and Second Temples which are the central sanctuaries of ancient Judaism. The wall is a Jewish prayer and pilgrimage site and is part of the Old City of Jerusalem UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Present

The Western Wall is an active Jewish prayer site managed by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation under Israeli state authority. Prayer continues at the wall through the day and night, with larger gatherings on Shabbat (the weekly Jewish day of rest, from Friday evening to Saturday nightfall) and on feast days. Worshippers place written prayers into the cracks between the stones. The largest event of the year is Tisha B'Av, a summer fast day on which Jews gather to pray and mourn the destruction of the First and Second Temples.

Religious Significance

Judaism (from the first millennium BCE)

The Western Wall is part of the retaining wall of the Temple Mount platform. Jewish tradition holds that the First Temple, built by King Solomon, and the rebuilt Second Temple, expanded under Herod the Great, stood at this place. The Second Temple was destroyed by Roman forces in 70 CE, and has not been rebuilt. According to Jewish tradition, this place itself was designated by God as the site where a temple should be built. It is regarded as the only place on earth where the full sacrificial worship set out in the Torah, the holy scripture of Judaism, could be carried out. Since the Temple's destruction that worship has been suspended, because it cannot be performed anywhere else. For Jews the Western Wall is the closest reachable point to the one spot where the central worship of the faith can ever take place. They mourn for the Temple's loss and pray for its restoration.

Islam (from the 7th century CE)

According to Muslim tradition the wall is associated with al-Buraq (a name connected with lightning), the winged horse-like creature that carried the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem on the Night Journey. Muslims hold that Muhammad tethered al-Buraq at the wall before ascending to heaven. The wall is named in this tradition the Buraq Wall.

History & Structure

The Western Wall was built as part of the expansion of the Temple Mount platform in the 1st century BCE. It is made of large limestone blocks. After the destruction of the Second Temple by Roman forces in 70 CE, the wall remained as part of the platform's retaining structure. The present open plaza was created after Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 and demolished the adjacent Moroccan Quarter, displacing its residents. The visible prayer section is 57 metres long and part of the 488-metre western retaining wall, which extends northward through tunnels. UNESCO inscribed the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls as a World Heritage Site in 1981.

Resources

• Official website: Western Wall Heritage Foundation
• UNESCO: Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls