In preparation for Passover, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation is preparing for the arrival of thousands of visitors from Israel and abroad over the coming month, specifically on the weekdays of the holiday which begins at sundown, Wednesday April 5.
As part of the preparations, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation conducted an inspection to examine the integrity of the stones of the Western Wall in which loose stone flakes and seasonal weeds that fill the cracks in the stones were removed in order to maintain the safety of the millions of worshipers who visit the holy place throughout the year and especially during the Israeli holidays. The workers also remove the hundreds of thousands of litle notes tucked into the wall by visitors. For centuries it has been a custom for those coming to pray by the wall to write for the health of someone, or better fortune, or just a note of gratitude to the Lord and place it within the gaps between the stones. Upon removal, the notes are buried in the ancient Mount of Olives cemetary adjacent to the Old City.
#Passover is coming ā Western Wall receives traditional cleaning of notes ahead of the holiday. The notes are buried in Mt. Olives.
ā Eretz Israel (@EretzIsrael) March 19, 2021
pic.twitter.com/V7GQlOfNuP
The inspection and cleaning is carried out twice a year, on the eve of Passover and on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, and includes a comprehensive and thorough inspection of all the stones of the Western Wall by hand. The testing team, led by engineers, move stones using a crane and test the durability and level of maintenance required of the various ancient & newer stones that make up the wall. It is during the inspection that loose stone parts and plant growth are removed. The inspection is done under the supervision of the Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Places Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz in accordance with established Jewish Halachic (religious law) limitations.
The traditional blessing of the priests for Passover will be held on Sunday, April 9th, with the participation of Israel's chief rabbis Rabbi David Lau and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Rabbi of the Western Wall Rabinowitz, and hundreds of Jewish priests, also known as Kohanim, from around the country.
The Foundation for the Heritage of the Western Wall added: "These days we need to cleanse ourselves of all the leaven of separation and distance and embrace free love and unity. There is no better time to be blessed than the moving and unifying ceremony of the blessing of the priests during the Passover holiday, in which the people of Israel receive the traditional blessing, by hundreds of priests who gather to pray at the Western Wall; together with the thousands of worshipers who make the pilgrimage to say a prayer by the temple's relic."
Spring cleaning begins in the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Visitors leave handwritten prayers between the cracks, which are cleared out twice a year pic.twitter.com/rA6ZdysytY
ā Antediluvian (@EhEmpty) March 17, 2021
The Jerusalem authorities are also instructing all visitors to consider their way of travel to the old city of Jerusalem, as internal roads of the walled city will be closed to private vehicles during all the days of the holiday. The public is also being requested to obey the instructions of the ushers for the safety of the Western Wall patrons.
This year, Passover and Ramadan are happening in the same month, an event that has caused friction in the past between Jews heading to pray at the Western wall and Muslims entering the Temple Mount area to reach the Al-Aqsa mosque. The Israeli authorities are aware of the possible altercations and have prepared accordingly with preemptive instructions for members of both religions as well as increased security in both areas of the compund.
