The Vision Becomes Reality: The Western Wall

While Americans observe Memorial Day this coming weekend, we in Israel will celebrate Jerusalem Reunification Day. Tens of thousands will march through the streets of Jerusalem, waving flags and singing songs, on their way to the Kotel Hamaravi – the Western Wall. We will be commemorating the 58^th anniversary of the greatest Jewish historical event of our lifetime, the reunification of Jerusalem, under Jewish sovereignty, after 1900 years of foreign rule in the Holy City.

On May 15, 1967, as Israel celebrated the 19^th anniversary of its independence, Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser sent Egyptian tanks into Sinai. At the time, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza were all in Arab hands. On May 16 Nasser expelled the UN peace keeping force, which had been in place since 1956, proclaiming his determination to wipe Israel off he map. Israel called up 300,000 citizen soldiers from the reserves. Tens of thousands of volunteers on the homefront kept the economy going, helping with transportation, the distribution of food, and the preparation of bomb shelters. The Soviet Union backed Nasser all the way. US President Lyndon B. Johnson urged both sides to show restraint. In the Knesset Prime Minister Levi Eshkol announced that Israel did not seek war and was ready to promote peace and stability in the region. Nasser responded by closing the Straits of Tiran, blocking access to Israel’s critical port of Eilat. On May 30, King Hussein of Jordan arrived in Cairo to sign a mutual defense pact placing the Egyptian and Jordanian Armies under joint command. Around the world, people thought that the country that had just celebrated the 19^th anniversary of its independence might never celebrate its 20^th. In Israel public confidence was bolstered by the formation of a national unity government with Moshe Dayan, the heroes of the 1956 Sinai War, as Minister of Defense, and Menachem Begin, the longtime Opposition Leader, as Minister Without Portfolio.

On the morning of June 5, Israel responded to the threat to its existence by launching a preemptive strike that destroyed the Egyptian Air Force. At the same time Israel contacted King Hussein to encourage him to stay out of the war. Hussein answered by shelling civilian neighborhoods in Jerusalem and the Gush Dan – Tel Aviv area. Israel was particularly concerned for the safety of forces on Mount Scopus, an Israeli held enclave within Jordan. Israeli paratroopers moved to relieve Mount Scopus. On the way, they fought a bloody battle at Ammunition Hill, a fortified Jordanian post on the road connecting West Jerusalem to Mount Scopus.

On the morning of June 7, Motta Gur addressed his troops on a ridge overlooking the Old City: “We will be going into the Old City of Jerusalem, that all generations have dreamed for.” At 10:00 AM the soldiers of the IDF, borne on the wings of 2000 years of hopes, dreams, and prayers, broke through the Lions Gate and entered the Old City.  Soon after came the famous words “Har Habayit – the Temple Mount – is in our hands.” As great as the emotion was on Har Habayit, it was even greater as the soldiers reached the Kotel. Many recited Shecheyanu – the blessing thanking G-d for allowing us to live to be part of a momentous event. Others sang Naomi Shemer’s song that had first been sung publicly at the annual Independence Day Song Festival a few weeks before, Jerusalem of Gold. The Chief Chaplain of the Israel defense Forces, Rav Shlomo Goren, blew the shofar, recited the Memorial Prayer, and led all in proclaiming “This year in the rebuilt Jerusalem.”

For years, the Kotel was known as the Wailing Wall, a symbol of mourning for the loss of the two Batei Mikdash and the suffering of the Jewish people in the Diaspora. As the battle-hardened soldiers reached the Kotel, many broke down in a different kind of tears. Tears for their fallen and wounded comrades of course. But also tears of joy. The dream of the ages had become a reality.

While the Kotel, has often been called the last remnant of the Beit Hamikdash, it is actually not a part of the Temple itself. When Herod, a Roman puppet, who ruled Judea in the last century Before the Common Era, sought to build a magnificent, renovated Temple with a grand plaza, Mount Moriah was too small to accommodate his vision. He leveled off the mountain, built arches and vaults, and built four huge retaining walls. The western retaining wall is our Western Wall of today.

Herodian stone can be easily recognized by the frame, the raised area known as the boss. Each stone is slightly set back from the one below it for the stability of the structure. No cement or mortar was used to connect the stones to each other. The stones are huge, with some weighing several hundred tons.

A stone from the Western Wall. Note the frame, the raised area known as the boss, and the setbacks. (Photo by author)

Only the bottom half of the Western Wall is Herodian stone. The upper layers of stones are from later. After the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash and the later crushing of the Bar Kochba Revolt, Jews were barred from Jerusalem under pain of death, except for one day a year, Tisha B’Av, the anniversary of the Churban when we could pay for the right to come into the city to mourn. But the Roman legions who drove our ancestors out of the city could never drive the city out of our hearts. For two thousand, wherever Jews were in the world, we would pray to return to Jerusalem.

While we have long prayed near the Temple Mount, it has not always been at the same spot. At times it was at the Mount of Olives or the Shaar HaRachamim – the Mercy Gate along the Eastern Wall. When the Muslims conquered Jerusalem in the 6^th century, they allowed Jews to return. There was a synagogue alongside the Western Wall, known as the Synagogue of the Cave. It was destroyed by the Crusaders in 1099.

In the 13^th century, the Mamelukes conquered Jerusalem. Rather than remove the ruble from the destruction of the Temple more than a thousand years earlier, they built arches and vaults and a platform over the ruins. They then built their homes, often using the Kotel as one of the walls of their houses. Virtually the entire Kotel was covered. An earthquake in 1546 destroyed some the homes alongside the Wall, exposing a narrow strip which became an area for Jewish prayer. Jews going to daven at the Kotel, were often harassed by residents of the Muslim Mughrabi neighborhood that bordered on the Kotel.

Muslims referred to the Western Wall as El Buraq Wall, the place where Mohamed tied his magical horse, before ascending to heaven from the Foundation Stone. They claimed ownership based on its being part of the Temple Mount. Ottoman and British authorities ruled that the Muslims owned the Wall, but that Jews were allowed to pray there. They forbade permanent structures such as chairs or a mechitza. Haj Amin Al Husseini, the Mufti, or chief religious’ leader, of Jerusalem incited the Muslim masses, with claims that the Jews were seeking to destroy the Al Aqsa compound. Disputes over the Kotel, led to the Arab riots of 1929 and to massacres of Jews in Hebron, Safed and elsewhere.

In 1948, Israel regained independence, but the Old City was conquered by the Jordanian Arab Legion.

With the reunification of the city in 1967, residents of the Mughrabi neighborhood were resettled elsewhere and the large Western Wall Plaza that we know today was created.

Today the Western Wall Heritage Center runs a number of attractions that can enhance your understanding of the Kotel.

Gateway to Heaven Visitor

A highly moving immersive film describes the history of the Kotel and explains its meaning and importance. It can be seen in Hebrew or English.

The Great Stone Tour

This is the classic tour of the Kotel Tunnels. Stops include: The largest stone in the Kotel, weighing several hundred tons. Warrens Gate, a gate to Har Habayit discovered by the British archeologist Charles Warren in 1867. The closest we can get to the Kodesh Hakodoshim- the Holy of Holies.  The street alongside the Kotel on which our ancestors walked to the Beit Hamikdash. A brief animated film showing how the Kotel was built. The Strothian Pool, originally a moat dug by Herod which became a reservoir during the late Second Temple Era.

The Great Bridge Tour

This new tour features: The base of the Great Bridge built by the Hasmoneans to connect the Upper City to Har Habayit. The inside of a two-thousand-year-old building from the late Second Temple Era. A kosher mikveh from the time of the Beit Hamikdash. Ruins of the Roman city. A part of the Kotel that was covered for 1700 years. A model of the Beit Hamikdash. The modern Shaarei Teshuva synagogue.

A Look Into the Past

A virtual reality tour of the Second Beit Hamikdash.

The Chain of the Generations Center

A walk through the journey of the Jewish people through the generations using state of the art technology and emphasizing your connection to the history of the Jewish people.

The Journey to Jerusalem

At this interactive attraction you sit at a personal computer and every visitor gets to create their own unique experience. You will follow a family on their journey from the Churban to their return to Israel in modern times. You will have several chances to choose where the family goes and see what happens to them.

Admission to all of these sites is by reservation only. You can make reservations and purchase tickets online at thekotel.org/

For private walking tours of these and other sites in Jerusalem please contact me at mannybehar4@gmail.com.