placing notes in the Western Wall
{{Short description|Practice generally associated to Jewish pious belief}}
File:Kvitelgirl.jpg in Jerusalem.]]
Placing notes in the Western Wall refers to the practice of placing slips of paper containing written prayers to God into the cracks of the Western Wall, a Jewish holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem.
It is claimed that occurrence of such a phenomenon dates from the early 18th century and stems from the Jewish tradition that the Divine Presence rests upon the Western Wall. There is however a dispute as to whether it is permissible according to Jewish law to insert slips of paper in to the crevices.{{cite book|title=Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=axgmAQAAIAAJ|series=43-44|year=2001|publisher=Yeshiva Rabbi Jacob Joseph School|page=94|quote=A practical issue in connection with the kotel ha'maravi is whether it is permitted to insert one's fingers or notes into the crevices of the wall" and "Others have argued that since this pollutes the kotel, and there is no halachic reasoning for this practice, that it is not proper to allow it to continue.}} Some argue that the practice debases the holiness of the Wall and that the placement of notes should be discontinued.
History
The earliest account of placing prayer notes into the cracks and crevices of the Western Wall was recounted by Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira of Munkatch (d. 1937) and involved Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar (d. 1743) who instructed a destitute man to place an amulet between the stones of the Wall.Goldstein, M. (1931). [http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=10152&st=&pgnum=76 Ma'asos Yerushalaim]
The rationale behind placing prayer notes in the Wall has been traced to the Midrashic teaching that the Divine Presence has never moved from the Western Wall,Exodus Rabbah 2:2.{{Dubious|reason=Please see Steven Mock on this attribution which evolved at a much later date. Clarification is needed to inform that there is a dispute as to whether the midrash refers to the Western Wall|date=February 2016}} and the Kabbalistic teaching that all prayers ascend to Heaven through the Temple Mount, which the Western Wall abuts.{{Cite web|url=http://judaism.about.com/od/prayersworshiprituals/f/kotelnotes.htm |title= What is the Origin, Process and Reason Behind Placing Notes in the Western Wall? |last= Simmons |first= Rabbi Shraga |access-date= 2010-01-13 |publisher= about.com}}Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer 35: "Anyone who prays in this place in Jerusalem, it is as if he prayed before the Throne of Glory, for the gate of heaven is there, open to hear all prayers".{{cite web |url=http://www.aish.com/jw/j/48961906.html |title=Six Reasons Why The Wall Is Holy |last=Simmons |first=Rabbi Shraga |date=3 November 2002 |access-date=6 October 2010}}
=Modern-day practice=
Today, more than a million prayer notes or wishes are placed in the Western Wall each year.{{cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1826734,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726202612/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1826734,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 26, 2008 |title=Obama's Private Prayer 'Leaked' |last=McGirk |first=Tim |date=25 July 2008 |access-date=2 October 2010 |publisher=Time}} Notes that are placed in the Wall are written in just about any language and format. Their lengths vary from a few words to very long requests. They include poems and Biblical verses. They are written on a wide variety of papers, including colored paper, notebook paper and even bubblegum wrappers, using a variety of inks.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch (or Rabinowitz), Rabbi of the Western Wall, receives hundreds of letters yearly addressed to "God, Jerusalem"; he folds these letters and places them, too, in the Wall.{{cite web| title= Where Do All the Prayer Notes Go? |publisher= ABC-Australia news report |date=5 September 2007 |url= https://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-09-05/where-do-all-the-prayer-notes-go/660366
|access-date= 2023-04-02}}
Online services offer petitioners the opportunity to send their notes to the Western Wall via e-mail, fax, text messaging and Internet; the note is then printed out and inserted in the Wall.{{cite web
|url= http://matzav.com/not-in-yerushalayim-send-a-kvittel-to-the-kosel-via-twitter |title= Not in Yerushalayim? Send a Kvittel to the Kosel via Twitter|access-date=2010-01-18|date=22 July 2009|publisher= matzav.com}} The Israeli Telephone Company has established such a fax service,{{Cite book |last= Starr |first= Joyce Shira |title= Faxes and Email to God: At the Western Wall of Jerusalem |year= 1995 |publisher= iUniverse |isbn= 978-1-893652-37-8 }} as have a number of charitable websites.
Disposal of notes
According to Jewish law, prayer notes may not be thrown away{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}; there is a difference of opinion as to whether they should be burned or buried. According to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and author of Minhagei HaKotel, a book of halakhot about the Western Wall, burning is a "pure" way to deal with the notes, but burying them is more honorable. Rabinowitz further states that the letters are buried because they have the status of letters to God.Eilen, Shia. "Interview with Harav Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rav of the Kosel". Hamodia Features, September 28, 2017, p. 10. Twice a year, ahead of Rosh Hashanah and Passover,[https://m.jpost.com/israel-news/prayer-ntes-removed-from-the-western-wall-in-perpetration-for-passover-586661 Prayer notes removed from the Western Wall in preparation for Passover], by Jerusalem Post staff, 12 April 2019, accessed 2 April 2023. Rabinowitz and his assistants collect the notes left in the Wall and bury them in the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.[https://thekotel.org/en/8898/ Western Wall Rosh Hashanah 2019: Clearing the Notes from the Western Wall], The Western Wall Heritage Foundation, 17 June 2020, accessed 2 April 2023.
Notable persons who have placed notes in the Wall
File:Bill de Blasio 2011 at Western Wall.jpg, and former Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio places a prayer note in the Western Wall, 2011]]
The tradition of leaving notes for God in the Western Wall has also been adopted by Christian pilgrims and people of other faiths. Foreign dignitaries who have publicly placed a message in the Western Wall include Pope John Paul II (in 2000),{{Cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2000/3/Letter%20Placed%20by%20Pope%20John%20Paul%20II%20at%20the%20Western| title = Letter Placed by Pope John Paul II at the Western Wall | access-date = 2008-10-07
| publisher = Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)}} Pope Benedict XVI (in 2008){{cite web |url=http://www.necn.com/Boston/World/2009/05/12/Pontiff-visits-Judaisms/1242122092.html |title=Pontiff Visits Judaism's Holiest Site, the Western Wall |access-date=2010-01-18 |date=12 May 2009 |publisher=necn.com |archive-date=2013-01-04 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104022633/http://www.necn.com/Boston/World/2009/05/12/Pontiff-visits-Judaisms/1242122092.html |url-status=dead }} and Pope Benedict XVI, again in 2009, who released its contents to the media.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/pope-places-note-of-peace-in-jerusalem-s-western-wall-1.834018 |title=Pope Places Note of Peace in Jerusalem's Western Wall |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|date=2009-05-12 |access-date=2009-05-31}}
U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton deposited a note in 2005.{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/hillary-clinton-visits-western-wall-1.174139 |title=Hillary Clinton visits Western Wall |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Haaretz |date=15 November 2005 |access-date=5 April 2011}} In July 2008, U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama placed a written prayer in the Wall.{{Cite news|first=Tim|last=McGirk|title=Obama's Private Prayer Leaked|date=2008-07-25|publisher=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1826734,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726202612/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1826734,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 26, 2008}} After Obama and his entourage departed, his note—written on hotel stationery—was removed from the Wall by a seminary student who sold it to the Maariv newspaper. The newspaper published the note, prompting criticism from other news sources and from the Rabbi of the Western Wall for violating the privacy that is inherent in notes placed in the Wall.{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/27/obama.prayer/ |title= Rabbi Condemns Release of Purported Obama Prayer Note |access-date=2010-01-18|date=27 July 2008|publisher=CNN}} In July 2012, U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney placed a written prayer in the Wall.{{cite web |url=http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/29/13018639-mitt-romney-visits-western-wall-one-of-holiest-sites-in-judaism?lite|title=Mitt Romney visits Western Wall, one of holiest sites in Judaism|first=Garrett|last=Haake|date=29 July 2012|access-date=23 October 2014|work=NBC News}} His note was later moved to a different location in the Wall for privacy reasons and to avoid a repeat of the incident with Obama's note in 2008.{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/romneys-western-wall-note-removed/|title=Romney's Western Wall Note Removed|first=Greg|last=Tepper|date=30 July 2012|access-date=23 October 2014|work=The Times of Israel}}
On May 22, 2017, Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. President to visit the Wall; he also inserted a note.{{cite web |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/22/politics/trump-israel-western-wall/|title=Trump makes historic visit to Western Wall|first=Jeremy|last=Diamond|date=22 May 2017|access-date=22 May 2017|work=CNN}} Trump's Vice President, Mike Pence, visited the Wall and deposited a prayer note on January 23, 2018, at the conclusion of his four-day visit to Israel.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/prospects-of-peace-elusive-as-pence-wraps-up-visit-to-israel/2018/01/23/65e0499a-002d-11e8-9d31-d72cf78dbeee_story.html|title=Prospects of peace elusive as Pence wraps up visit to Israel|first1=Ruth|last1=Eglash|first2=Jenna|last2=Johnson|date=23 January 2018|access-date=23 January 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post}}
See also
- {{annotated link|Kvitel}}
- {{annotated link|Zozobra#Burnt articles}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://ohr.edu/yhiy/article.php/2629 "Ask the Rabbi: Writing on the Wall"]
- [http://www.aish.com/w/note/ Place a note in the wall] courtesy of Aish HaTorah
- Send an [http://shvilist.com/westernwall/ Online Prayer Note] to be placed in the Kotel by volunteers.
{{Temple Mount}}
{{Commons category|Notes in the Western Wall}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Placing notes in the Western Wall}}