Israel: Women of the Wall

Israeli security guards at the Western Wall on Friday searched women worshippers arriving at the holiest place where Jews can pray for a seemingly inoffensive object – the Jewish prayer shawl, which under the Orthodox tradition can be worn only by men.

Once the shawls were found, dozens of women had to deposit them before proceeding to pray in the section reserved for women. A few, who managed to sneak the shawls in under their coats and wrapped them around their shoulders, were promptly evicted or detained.

Similar scenes have played out almost a dozen times every year since the group known as Women of the Wall was first established nearly 25 years ago.

Its members have endured arrests, heckling and legal battles in a struggle to attain what they consider their inalienable right – to pray and worship at the Western Wall like men do.

Under Israel’s predominantly Orthodox Jewish tradition, only men may wear a prayer shawl, a skullcap and phylacteries. Liberal Reform Judaism, marginal in Israel but the largest denomination in the United States, allows women to practice the same way as men do in Orthodox Judaism: they may be ordained as rabbis, read from the Torah, the Jewish holy book, and wear prayer shawls.

The multi-denominational Women of the Wall adheres to that liberal stream. Since 1988, its members have come to the holy site 11 times a year to pray on the first day of the new Jewish month, except on the New Year.

The police know they are coming and are on the lookout. The group’s members have been repeatedly detained, as soon as they are perceived to be offending Orthodox sensibilities – such as carrying a Torah scroll or if they try to drape themselves in the shawls. They are usually released after a few hours.

They have never been charged – evidence, the women say, that what they are doing is not illegal.

“We want to have the ability to pray out loud, to wear a prayer shawl, to read the Torah. And we want to do it without fear at the Western Wall,” said Anat Hoffman, the group’s chairwoman…

Read on in the Huffington Post.

 

Western Wall Passes Annual Health Check

Ahead of Judaism’s High Holy Days when hundreds of thousands will visit the holy site, engineers inspect Western Wall to ensure stability • Office of the rabbi of the Western Wall confirms that site is safe and ready to receive the faithful.

A team of engineers closely examined Jerusalem’s Western Wall — a remnant of the ancient Temple destroyed in 70 C.E. — on Tuesday. The inspection is carried out annually to the check stability of the site ahead of the High Holy Days.

With less than two weeks to go before the Jewish New Year and the start of the most important days in Judaism ahead of Yom Kippur, when hundreds of thousands of people are expected to visit the site, engineers examined the ancient stones.

The office of the rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, said there were no abnormal findings in Tuesday’s test. Tests in previous years have uncovered stones damaged by bad weather, but no problems were found this year.

In 2003 an engineering survey of the Western Wall was undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority which mapped the stones in the wall and physical problems, and undertook to monitor the state of the wall’s preservation. A survey by engineers in 2009 spotted detached building material and found that stones in the upper courses of the wall were in danger of falling. Conservation efforts were undertaken to remove hazards and stabilize the original stones. The wall was stabilized and annual maintenance is now carried out to monitor the situation.

Source:  Israel Hayom

 

Western Wall Plaza Excavation Results

Writes Todd Bolen over at the Bible Places Blog:

Over the yearsI’ve mentionedthe excavation at the “back” of the Western Wall prayer plaza. The latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review has a report by the excavators on their discoveries at the site from 2005 to 2010. Since I expect some curious student to ask me in a couple of days about the big hole in the ground, the article arrived at a good time for me. I made a few notes as I read the article that I thought I’d share here.

The earliest remains at this spot indicate that it was used as an Iron Age quarry.

Later in the Iron Age, a four-room house was constructed here. This was a Jerusalemite’s home sometime after Hezekiah fortified the Western Hill with a new wall (part of which is known today as the “Broad Wall.”) The house may have been destroyed by the Babylonian assault in 586, but this is not certain. Several personal seals were found in the building, including one depicting an Assyrian-style archer.

Curiously, there is no evidence of occupation at the site in the Babylonian, Persian, or Hasmonean periods (586-50 BC).

In the New Testament period, the Lower Aqueduct ran through this area, bringing water from “Solomon’s Pools” to the Temple Mount. The only other discovery from the 1st century was a ritual bath (mikveh).

The most impressive remains at the site are that of a monumental street. This cardo is similar in size and design to its counterpart to the west, located today in the heart of the Jewish Quarter, but the archaeologists say that the eastern cardo was constructed in the Roman period by Hadrian (whereas the southern extension of the western was built by Justinian c. 530).

All the details are presented in a much more interesting style in the January/February 2012 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. The article, with all of its illustrations, is currently available online, no subscription required.

Mughrabi Bridge Demolition Delayed

Jordan, Egypt warned Israel taking down bridge that connects Western Wall, Temple Mount may spark regional protests.

Anything for a good protest in Jordan and Egypt…

In any event, The Jerusalem Post reports:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday delayed plans at the last minute to  start rebuilding the Mughrabi Bridge linking the Western Wall Plaza to the  Temple Mount because of Egyptian and Jordanian concerns, Channel 2 reported  Sunday.

According to the report, work on the bridge – which received approval in March – was to have begun early Sunday morning. The initial work of  demolishing the existing structure would have necessitated the deployment of  large IDF and security forces in Jerusalem and around the Temple Mount, as well  as stepped-up army preparedness in the West Bank.

Channel 2 reported  Cairo and Amman warned Jerusalem the work would likely lead to “disruptions” in  both Jordan and Egypt.

Officials in both the Prime Minister’s Office and  the Jerusalem Municipality refused Sunday night to comment on the  reports.

Previous work on the bridge caused widespread rioting in  neighborhoods throughout the Jerusalem area and in Jordan.

Jordan’s Awkaf  Islamic Affairs and Holy Places Ministry warned that were Israel to begin to  take down the Mughrabi Bridge, the move would likely ignite protests throughout  Jordan, which could eventually spread to the West Bank, according to the Channel  2 report.

Under the plans, a permanent bridge is to be built to replace  the current temporary wooden structure that has been in use since a 2003  earthquake and winter storm caused part of the original bridge to collapse. The  bridge is used as the main entry point for non-Muslim tourists and security  forces entering the Temple Mount.

 

King Herod Didn’t Complete the Construction of Jerusalem’s Western Wall

As was as expected, a new archaeological announcement has been made about the Western Wall in Jerusalem: Apparently, King Herod didn’t complete the construction:

Recent archeological excavations in Jerusalem show that, contrary to popular understanding, King Herod was not solely responsible for constructing the Western Wall.

Israel’s Antiques Authority announced Wednesday that the discovery of a mikveh (ritual bath) alongside Jerusalem’s ancient drainage channel challenges the conventional archaeological perception that Herod built the wall in its entirety, saying it is now evident that construction was completed at least 20 years after Herod’s death (believed to be in 4 BCE).

The excavations, directed by IAA archaeologist Eli Shukron with assistance from Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa, revealed three clay oil lamps of a type that was common in the first century CE as well as seventeen identifiable bronze coins. According to Dr. Donald Ariel, curator of the IAA numismatic collection, the latest four coins were struck by the Roman procurator of Judea, Valerius Gratus, sometime around 17 or 18 CE – about 20 years after Herod’s death.

“This bit of archaeological information illustrates the fact that the construction of the Temple Mount walls and Robinson’s Arch was an enormous project that lasted decades and was not completed during Herod’s lifetime,” said the IAA, adding that the find confirms descriptions by the Jewish historian Josephus, which state that it was only during the reign of King Agrippa II (Herod’s great-grandson) that the work was finished.”

A full report by the Israel’s Antiques Authority is here.

Todd Bolen asks if the IAA is desperate for headlines?

And another pic of the bedrock:

Western Wall Announcement Tomorrow

Something to look forward to:

The Spokesperson of the Israel Antiquities Authority “circulated an invitation to journalists to attend a press conference tomorrow (Wednesday, November 23, 2011) at which “A find will be presented that challenges the conventional viewpoint in archaeology regarding the construction of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.”

Although it sounds mysterious, Ronny Reich, whom I met very recently in Jerusalem, said that he has new information about the construction date of Robinson’s Arch. It will be interesting to see what he has to say.

UPDATE:  The news is out here: King Herod didn’t complete the construction of the Western Wall, at least, that’s the new theory.

Video: Muslims Stone Praying Jews at Western Wall

Yes, how dare they pray:

There are reports that Muslims stoned praying Jews at the Western Wall… That would be the equivilant of Jews stoning Muslims at Mecca.

Here is video of the incident, although it is hard to make out what is happening.

The holiest site in Judaism being desecrated by the poor defenseless Muslims. This while others simply choose to believe lies, like the Israeli Police supposedly ‘storming’ the Al-Aqsa Mosque? Oh please…

Western Wall Undergoes Spring Cleaning for Pessah

During its bi-annual face-lift, Western Wall employees remove millions of handwritten notes, faxes from between ancient stones.

The Jerusalem Post:

Armed with wooden poles, Western Wall employees on Wednesday removed millions of handwritten notes, faxes and email printouts from between the ancient stones. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which gives the Kotel such a face-lift twice a year – before the upcoming Passover and ahead of the Jewish New Year – are considering a third annual clean-up, due to the growing influx of requests and notes.

The notes will be placed in a repository in accordance with Jewish law, with the laborers – working under the supervision of Western Wall and Holy Sites Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz – taking care to not read their content.

Engineers will also be conducting test to determine the stability of the stones so that none are in the risk of falling on the worshipers below.

Sarah Palin: Israel Too Apologetic

Former American vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin expressed support for Jews praying openly on the Temple Mount on a visit to the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday, officials who accompanied Palin said.

Palin and her husband Todd arrived for a two-day visit on Sunday afternoon and toured the Western Wall and its adjacent tunnels. They will visit the Old City again on Monday, tour Gesthsemane and the Mount of Olives, and have dinner with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara at their official residence in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu has already met in Jerusalem over the last two months with a number of leading US politicians considered as likely candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, including former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

World Likud chairman and Likud MK Danny Danon and Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz served as Palin’s tour guides on Sunday night. Palin was told that Jews were not allowed to pray openly on the Temple Mount and about the Arab riots that accompanied Netanyahu’s decision to authorize the creation of an exit from the Western Wall tunnels in 1996.

“Why are you apologizing all the time?” Palin asked her guides.

Palin expressed regret that she would not be able to visit Nazareth or Bethlehem during her brief stay in Israel, but promised that she would soon come back for longer.

“It’s overwhelming to be able to see and touch the cornerstone of our faith,” Palin told reporters upon exiting the tunnels. “I’m so thankful to be able to be here, and I’m thankful to know the Israel-American connection will grow and strengthen as the peace negotiations continue.”

Rabinowitz said that Palin prayed at the point closest to the Holy of Holies and left a note with a personal prayer. Unlike the incident that occurred when then-presidential candidate Barack Obama visited the Western Wall in July 2008, nobody removed her note from the Wall and gave it to the press…

The Jerusalem Post has more here.

And here she is visiting the Western Wall:

A Small Western Wall?

It’s newly opened and the second closest place to the Holy of Holies (outside of the Temple Mount) at which to pray, but:

It was reported a few days ago that renovation work was taking place at the Kotel haKatan (the Small Wall) in preparation for opening the small courtyard for Jewish prayer. Today, Haaretz reports that the site has been opened.

Here is a description of the site:

The Kotel Ha-Katan is a small portion of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, which is exposed (with no houses covering it).  It is located approximately 200 meters north of the Western Wall Plaza, and next to Sha’ar Ha-Barzel (the Iron Gate).  The Kotel Ha-Katan is close to the middle point of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, and it is the place second closest to the Holy of Holies (outside of the Temple Mount) where Jews can pray.  The closest location is within the Kotel Tunnels, and is exactly facing the Holy of Holies.

Orthodox Jews praying at the Kotel haKatan – photo Dror Avi

The wall shown in the picture is certainly part of the Western Wall, but the large stones are not Herodian. The Western Wall tunnel runs below this plaza and there Herodian stones can be seen. In most places along the Temple Mount walls these Umayyad (Early Muslim period) stones are visible above the Herodian masonry, see this previous post. They were placed there in the beginning of the eighth century AD, after the El Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock were built. During that time the destroyed Herodian walls were repaired with large stone blocks, which lack the typical Herodian margins. These stones were often reused ashlars taken from large Byzantine churches nearby, such as the Nea Church.

It is ironic to see that Haaretz is worried about a strong reaction from the Waqf (the Muslim religious trust), while the praying Jews are apparently oblivious to the fact that they are touching stones laid by Muslims, which may have been taken from a destroyed Christian church, in order to repair the ancient Jewish Temple Mount walls.