The Blogs: Is a Wall More Holy Than a Temple Altar for Killing Animals?

“About half a million Jews visited the Western Wall over the week of Passover in 2025 but only 6,315 of them went further up to the Temple Mount,” said Kikar HaShabbat, an ultra-Orthodox news site, whose young men never serve in the IDF.

Although there are times when Jews encounter holiness in their personal lives, an opportunity to do so publicly and communally at a sacred time, in a sacred place, is gone. The only remaining remnant of the Holy Temple is the western wall of the foundation mound that the ancient Temple once stood upon. And amazingly, that wall, that was not even an exterior wall of the Holy Temple, still has the power to move many people in mysterious and wonderful ways.

“One evening…I went to the Western Wall–not for the first time. Morris and I had gone there a week or two after our arrival in Palestine. I went to the Wall without much emotion, just as something I knew I ought to do. But for the first time I saw Jews, men and women, praying and weeping before it. I saw a nation’s refusal to accept that only these stones were left to it. I left the Wall changed in feeling, uplifted is perhaps the word…

“Another memorable visit (46 years later) was on the third day of the Six-Day War. Uniformed paratroopers wrapped in prayer shawls clung tightly to the wall. They and the wall were one. Only a few hours earlier they had seen their comrades fall for its sake. As I stood there, one of the soldiers suddenly put his arms around me and we cried together. It was one of the most moving moments of my life. (Golda Meir)

A modern midrash about the capture of the old city in 1967 relates: On that day (in 1967) when the King of Ammon went to Egypt, the verdict was sealed. The people of Jerusalem cried out, “What will happen to us? Our enemies are many and we know not which of our sons will be killed. What will happen to Jerusalem?” But some answered that those who do not love Jerusalem see only her stones and dirt while those who love her see radiance and light. She is won only by suffering: she responds only to those who woo her with yearning. A few days later Israel was on fire in the north, south and east.

“Every moment I can see on the hills around and at the feet of the gates, the soldiers of Israel falling, scorched by fire. Let them enter by any gate, so long as not another one of them falls.” So it was decreed from Heaven that the young lions shall enter through the Lions’ Gate. (from The Six Days and the Seven Gates by Yitzhak Navon)

On many occasions long lost Jewish souls have been revived by contact with the western wall.

Maybe the western foundation wall isn’t holy because the Temple or the alter are holy. Maybe they are holy because the place itself is holy.

Long ago, in the days of Abraham, there were two farmers who lived on Mount Zion before there was any city called Jerusalem. One was married and had two children. The other was a widower who lived alone. One year there was very little rain and the harvest was greatly diminished.

One day the widower thought to himself, “I alone do not need much food to eat, but my neighbor has a family to feed. I should give him a few bags of grain from my barn to help him feed his family until next year’s harvest. Each night for the rest of the week I will take a bag of grain and put it in his barn.”

That same day the family man was also thinking of his neighbor. “He lives alone. He has no wife to support him during the hard and difficult times we are going through, and no children make him feel that the struggle to survive until the next harvest is worthwhile. At least he should have a little more to eat. I will take a bag of grain each night for the rest of the week and put it in his barn.”

At the end of the week both neighbors were surprised to see that their barn seemed to have as many bags of grain as at the beginning of the week. They both decided that they would continue shlepping a bag of grain to their neighbor’s barn every night.

Over the next few weeks they were continually amazed that the bags of grain in their barns did not diminish, and they concluded that a miracle was occurring. Then one night, they both happened to shlep their bag of grain at exactly the same time, and they met mid way between the two barns.

First they were surprised. Then they realized why the number of bags of grain was undiminished. Finally, they understood that the miracle was not in the bags of grain in their barns but in the compassion and love in their hearts. They hugged each other and cried.

The God of Abraham, who saw this act of love, and this understanding of faith, blessed the place where the two neighbors embraced each other. In the course of time David would select, and Solomon would build, the Holy Temple on that very place. (retold by Allen Maller based on an adaptation by Azriel Eisenberg of a folk tale by Z. Ya’avetz)

Most Jews today would say Jerusalem was lost because the Romans destroyed it. The Roman Empire and army was big and strong. No one else could defeat them during the first and second century. The strong usually defeat the weak. Usually, but not always. The Maccabees fought a two decade long war and finally attained independence from the Syrian Empire. True, but the Roman Empire was more powerful than the Syrian Empire; that is why the Romans conquered them.

Even after that first Roman victory a second Jewish revolt against the Romans broke out two generations later. The Bar Kochba revolt was supported by Rabbi Akiba, who thought Bar Kochba might be the Messiah. After 3 ½ years of fierce fighting that revolt was also crushed and any possibility of the Romans allowing Jews to rebuild Jerusalem vanished.

Thus, instead of blaming others, and ignoring our own responsibility for what happened, the Rabbis focused on faults within the Jewish community. They understood that the First Temple was destroyed because of three evils: idolatry, licentiousness and bloodshed. “But why was the Second Temple destroyed, seeing that during the time it stood people occupied themselves with Torah, Mitsvot and Tsadakah? Because during the time it stood unrestrained hatred prevailed. This is to teach you that unfettered hatred is deemed as grave as the three sins of idolatry, licentiousness and bloodshed, put together.” (Talmud Yoma 9b)

Although there are still times when Jews encounter holiness in their personal lives, the opportunity to do so publicly and communally at a sacred time, in a sacred place, is gone. The only remaining remnant of the Holy Temple is the western wall of the foundation mound that the ancient Temple once stood upon. And amazingly, that wall, that was not even an exterior wall of the Holy Temple, still has the power to move many people in mysterious and wonderful ways.

Seven gates there were in the walls of Jerusalem and they did not know by which gate to enter. Each gate bid them enter. Each gate presented its plea to Heaven. One gate after another spoke passionately and profoundly of its desire to be the gateway into the heart of Jerusalem; and each in its own way was deserving. Six gates spoke, but one, the Lions’ Gate, remained silent, until it was forced to speak. “Every moment I can see on the hills around and at the feet of the gates, the soldiers of Israel falling, scorched by fire. Let them enter by any gate, so long as not another single one of them falls.” And it was decreed from Heaven that the young lions shall enter through the Lions’ Gate. (from The Six Days and the Seven Gates by Yitzhak Navon)

Maybe the western foundation wall isn’t holy because the Temple or the alter are holy. Maybe they are holy because the place itself is holy.

Amazingly the Rabbis refused to blame the Romans. The Jewish belief that God guarantees the ultimate triumph of good over evil means that defeats could only be due to a temporary weakness in the forces of good. When the flaw was repaired (Teshuvah/Tikun) good would be able to overcome evil. Thus, instead of blaming others, and ignoring our own responsibility for what happened, the Rabbis focused on faults within the Jewish community.

They understood that the First Temple was destroyed because of three evils: idolatry, licentiousness and bloodshed. “But why was the Second Temple destroyed, seeing that during the time it stood people occupied themselves with Torah, Mitsvot and Tsadakah?

Because during the time the Temple stood unrestrained hatred prevailed and pious rabbis and their students added to the flames. This is to teach you that unfettered hatred is deemed as graver than the three sins of idolatry, licentiousness and bloodshed, put together.” (Talmud Yoma 9b)