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Rabbi clears
out thousands of prayer notes from Jerusalem's Western Wall for burial nearby
Poking into crevices between the ancient stones of the
Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, a senior rabbi and his helpers on
Tuesday removed thousands of handwritten notes placed there by visitors who
believe their requests will find a shortcut to God by being deposited at
Judaism's holiest site.
The operation is carried out twice each year: before
the Passover festival which begins this weekend and at the Jewish New Year in
the fall.
The Western Wall was part of the retaining wall of the
Temple Mount, where the biblical Temples stood in the days of the Bible.
Destroyed by ancient invaders, their site is now the home of the Al Aqsa Mosque
compound.
Thought the ages, Jews have prayed at the Western Wall,
and others pay their respects to the sanctity of the site. VIP visitors have
included U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, U.S. presidential
candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain, Russian President Vladimir Putin
and Pope John Paul II.
"Millions of people place notes here at the
Western Wall with their requests, we take them out in order that more people
can place these notes," said the site's rabbi, Shmuele Rabinowitz.
"So that these notes are not defiled and don't fall out, we collect then
in a seemly and respectful way and bury them on the Mount of Olives," just
across a valley from the Old City.
Rabinowitz and a squad of helpers coaxed the pieces of
paper from the crevices with sticks. The notes fell to the ground and were
scooped in handfuls into plastic-lined garbage bins for later transfer to the
ancient Jewish cemetery.
Jewish religious practice forbids the destruction of
any written material that includes one of the names of God, so worn or damaged
Torah scrolls, prayer books and other religious articles are buried.
"We treat these notes as holy, as something that
people wrote to the creator," Rabinowitz said. "We treat them
according to Jewish law and inter them along with all holy writings."
He said neither he nor his staff read the notes.
"It's like a prayer, it's an expression of a
person's request from the heart to the Creator," he added.
For those unable to reach the wall in person, religious
and postal authorities deliver notes that arrive by mail, e-mail or SMS
message.
Postal authorities say letters, some addressed simply
to God, come from all corners of the globe, including a few from predominantly
Muslim nations like Indonesia.
Rabinowitz said the ancient temple, built by King
Solomon, was intended as a house of prayer for all nations.
"God
promised that every prayer uttered here would be heard in heaven, from Jews and
gentiles alike," he said.
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