Editing Western Wall (section)

==In Judaism==
===History as place of prayer===
Jews were banned from Jerusalem by the Roman authorities after the [[Second Jewish revolt]] (2nd century CE) and, although there are intermittent accounts of limited [[9th of Av]] services on the Temple Mount, no sources from before the 7th-century Islamic conquest attest to any other Jewish services allowed near the Mount and many report that none were permitted. Sources conflict with regard to the Mount's status under Islamic rule, but Karaite commentator [[Salmon ben Jeroham]] ({{Circa|950}} CE) reports that Jews were initially granted wide access to the Mount, then restricted to gathering near "one of its gates", then banned entirely before his own time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neubauer |first=Adolf |title=Aus der Petersburger Bibliothek: Beiträge und Documente zur Geschichte des Karäerthums und der karäischen Literatur |trans-title= From the Petersburg Library: Contributions and Documents on the History of the Karaites and Karaite Literature |page= 109 |date=1866 |publisher=Oskar Leiner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lUFDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA109}} Document in [[Judeo-Arabic]], Hebrew script.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mann |first=Jacob |title=Texts and Studies in Jewish History and Literature: Ḳaraitica |date=1972 |publisher=Ktav Publishing House |isbn=978-0-87068-085-4 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6muQAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>

====10th–12th centuries====
However, a synagogue was apparently founded by the Western Wall (in the broader sense) shortly after the time of Salmon. The [[Ahimaaz ben Paltiel#Chronicle of Ahimaaz |Scroll of Ahimaaz]], a historical chronicle written in 1050 CE, describes:<blockquote>Samuel his son arose to replace [Paltiel], and this great man filled his father's place [in {{Circa|980}} CE] ... [He] dedicated 20,000 golden [[Ancient drachma| drachmas]] to the One Who Dwells on High, to entreat the favor of the Rider of Clouds. These were alms for the poor...; oil for the synagogue in the western wall, for [the lamps on] its ''[[bema]]'' ...<ref>{{Cite journal |last= Yahuda |first= Yitzhak Yehezkel |date= 1928 |title= כתל המערבי |trans-title= The Western Wall |lang= he |journal=[[Zion (journal) |Zion]] |volume= 3 |pages= 120–121 |jstor= 23539724 |issn= 0792-528X |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23539724}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last= Dinaburg |first= Ben-Zion |author-link= Ben-Zion Dinur |date=1928 |title= 'בית תפילה ומדרש' ליהודים על הר־הבית בימי הערבים |trans-title= 'A House of Prayer and Study' for Jews on the Temple Mount in the Days of the Arabs |lang= he |journal=[[Zion (journal) |Zion]] |volume=3 |pages= 62–63 |jstor= 23539722 |issn= 0792-528X |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23539722}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= מגילת אחימעץ |trans-title= The Scroll of Ahimaaz |lang= he |website= HebrewBooks.org  |page=47 |url= https://hebrewbooks.org/38867 |access-date= 2024-02-15}}</ref></blockquote>This account of Jewish prayer at the edge of the Mount in confirmed by [[Daniel ben Azariah]], who writes ({{Circa|1055}} CE) that Jews were then permitted to "pray near the Mount's gates".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mann |first=Jacob |title=The Jews in Egypt and in Palestine Under the Fāṭimid Caliphs: A Contribution to Their Political and Communal History Based Chiefly on Genizah Material Hitherto Unpublished |date=1920 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=46  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E3ra5sWmaqkC&pg=PP7}}</ref>

In 1099 CE the Crusader army [[Siege of Jerusalem (1099)| captured Jerusalem]], killing almost every Jew inside, and banned Jewish pilgrims from approaching the Mount. In his ''Scroll of Revelation'' ({{Circa|1125}} CE), [[Abraham bar Hiyya]] records that:<ref>{{Cite web |author=[[Abraham bar Hiyya]] |title=מגלת המגלה |trans-title= Scroll of the Revealer (Megilat ha-Megaleh) |lang= he |website= hebrewbooks.org |pages= 99–100 |url= https://hebrewbooks.org/6263}}</ref><blockquote>... the Romans who destroyed the Temple in the days of the evil [[Titus]], though they despoiled its sanctuary, never claimed any ownership of the holy Mount or any need to pray there. But ever since the evil [[Constantine the Great| Constantine]] converted to Christianity, they have begun to make these claims ... Since [1099 CE] the Christians have desecrated the Mount, made the citadel their church, brought their idols within it, and prevented Jews from praying there. Ever since those villains took over the Mount, no Jew has been allowed to enter it, and none are to be found in all Jerusalem.</blockquote>
[[File:Western_Wall_in_Florence_Scroll.jpg|thumb|Western Wall in the "Florence Scroll", a {{Circa|1315}} Jewish pilgrimage guide. The Gates of Mercy are shown adjacent or perhaps as part of the wall.<ref>צרפתי, רחל, ואלחנן ריינר. ''מגילת פירנצה : ייצוג מוקדם של המסורת החזותית של תיאור המקומות הקדושים''. אוניברסיטת תל-אביב, 2016.</ref>]]
In another reversal by {{Circa|1167}} CE, during the later [[Kingdom of Jerusalem |Crusader period]], the Western Wall was reopened to Jewish prayer. [[Benjamin of Tudela]] attests:<blockquote>. . . and the Gate of [[Jehoshaphat]], which faced the Temple in ancient times. There is the ''[[Templum Domini |Templi Domini]],'' which is the site of the Temple, and on it is a large and very beautiful dome built by [[Umar]] bin al-Khataab. Although they come to pray, the gentiles do not bring any images or effigies onto the site. And in front of this place is the western wall, which was one of the walls in{{Efn|The exact meaning of this phrase (אחד מן הכתלים שהיו [נ"א +במקדש] בקדש הקדשים ''which was one of the walls'' [1 MS: +''in the Temple''] ''in the holy of holies'') is obscure, confused by the preposition ב ''in''. Most translators emend to "of the [[Holy of Holies]]," but Yisrael Ariel argues that the meaning of ''Qodesh haqQodashim'' ({{lit|Holy of Holies}}) had expanded to include a larger portion of the site, just as had those of ''haBayyit hagGadol'' ({{lit|the Great House}}) and ''haAzarah'' ({{lit|the court but see following note}}).}} the Holy of Holies; this is called the Gate of Mercy{{Efn|Today [[Golden Gate (Jerusalem)|"Gate of Mercy"]] refers to a literal gate on the eastern side of the platform. According to Samuel Rabinowitz (2012), ''The Western Wall'' [in Hebrew], p. 262, Benjamin intends "gate of mercy" as a [[term of art]] meaning "place where prayer is received favorably" (cf. Talmudic idiom "he knocked on the gates of mercy" viz. "he prayed"); others, however, assume the reverse: that the Gate of Mercy was once known as the "western wall".}} and hither come all the Jews to pray before the wall in the courtyard{{Efn|The term ''azara'' in its technical sense refers only to the inner court of the Temple, including the central building and the altars. However, Benjamin's contemporaries used it loosely to refer to a different part of, or even the whole of, the Temple site. See Yisrael Ariel, "Prayer on the Temple Mount" (1995) [in Hebrew] in ''Memorial Volume for Rabbi Shlomo Goren'', ed. Yitzhak Alfasi, p. 268. Similarly, [[Al-Biruni]] (c. 1000 CE) refers to a ritual on [[Simchat Torah]] in which the Jews would "assemble in the ''harhara'' of Jerusalem" for a procession (''[[The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries |The Chronology of Ancient Nations]]'', ed. [[Eduard Sachau]] (1879), p. 270), and one [[Cairo Geniza]] letter refers to "Rabbi Musa who was killed in the ''azara'' by the [[Karaite Judaism|Ananites]]" (''JQR'' V p. 554).}}.<ref name="itinerary222">Adler N. M. (1907), ''The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela'', London; p. 23 (English) and p. 24 (Hebrew).</ref></blockquote>

====17th century====
In 1625, David Finzi reported to the Jewish leadership of [[Carpi, Emilia-Romagna|Carpi]] that:<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Benayahu |first=Meir |date=1987 |title=ספור דברים מורגלים בירושלים |journal=Asuppot |volume=1 |pages=215–242 |via=Otzar}}</ref><blockquote>. . . from there we went up to the Temple Mount, passing mundane structures until we reached the peak of the Mount, where once the Temple stood, which was destroyed for our sins. Now a mosque is built upon it, and Jews are prohibited from entering it; only outside it, near the Western Wall, are Jews allowed to gather, and even this only in peaceful times—in difficult times, such as these, the Jewish community has decreed that no one go there.

But in the first week of our visit, before this decree, we went all the way in, and kissed it, and I prostrated myself before its base, and there I said the ordered prayers, and also entreated God to bless all the Jews of Carpi ... Though it is called the Western Wall, nothing of the Temple whatever survived the destruction, the looting by thieves, and the construction of the mosque. They built a [[Dome of the Rock|citadel]] on the site of the [[Foundation Stone]], surpassingly lovely ...</blockquote>Tensions eventually calmed again. Gedaliah of [[Siemiatycze]], who lived in Jerusalem from 1700 to 1706, records that:<ref name=":1" /><blockquote>Only Muslims are permitted to enter the Mount and not Jews or other peoples, unless they convert to the Muslim faith. They say that not just any faith is worthy of the Mount, and they continually remind us that the Muslims have superseded the Jews in the eyes of God. When we go to pray at the Wall, we press right up against it, like the lover in [[Song of Songs]] who "standeth behind our wall". On the [[Rosh Chodesh|eve of the New Moon]], on [[Tisha B'Av|Tisha ba'Av]], and on other [[Ta'anit|fast days]], we go there to pray, and the women to raise their plangent cries, but no one challenges us, and even the ''qadi'' who lives there does not object. Though the Arab youths sometimes come to prey on us, they are easily bribed to leave us alone, and if caught by their own elders they are rebuked ... Prayer by the Wall usually meets with God's favor ... . Once in olden times, or so I heard, there was a terrible drought. The Jews declared a day of fasting, and they went with a Torah scroll to the Western Wall to pray, and God answered their prayers so readily that they had to wrap the scroll in their clothes on their return to the synagogue. Every Sabbath morning, after the services at the synagogue, we immediately set off for the Western Wall ... every single one of us, [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazic]] and [[Sephardic Jews|Sephardic]], old and young ... there we recite those Psalms that mention Jerusalem, and ''Pitom haQtores'', and ''[[Aleinu|Aleinu l'Shabeach]]'', and the [[Kaddish]], and we bless those in the diaspora who fundraise for [[Land of Israel|Eretz Yisrael]] ... .</blockquote>

====18th–19th centuries====
{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; font-size: 85%; background:#f9f9f9; width:30em; max-width: 27%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" |"On Friday afternoon, March 13, 1863, the writer visited this sacred spot. Here he found between one and two hundred Jews of both sexes and of all ages, standing or sitting, and bowing as they read, chanted and recited, moving themselves backward and forward, the tears rolling down many a face; they kissed the walls and wrote sentences in Hebrew upon them... The lamentation which is most commonly used is from [[Psalm 79]]:1 "O God, the heathen are come into Thy inheritance; Thy holy temple have they defiled."
(Rev. James W. Lee, 1863)<ref>{{harvnb|Lee|1863|p=147}}</ref>
|} The writings of various travellers in the Holy Land, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, tell of how the Wall and its environs continued to be a place of devotion for the Jews.<ref name= report1930/> Isaac Yahuda, a prominent member of the [[Sephardic]] community in Jerusalem recalled how men and women used to gather in a circle at the Wall to hear sermons delivered in [[Judeo-Spanish|Ladino]]. His great-grandmother, who arrived in Palestine in 1841, "used to go to the Western Wall every Friday afternoon, winter and summer, and stay there until candle-lighting time, reading the entire Book of Psalms and the Song of Songs...she would sit there by herself for hours."<ref>{{cite book
| last= Deutsch
| first= Nathaniel
| title= The Maiden of Ludmir
| year= 2003
| publisher= [[University of California Press]]
| isbn= 0-520-23191-0
| page= 199
| chapter= In the Holy Land
}}</ref>

====20th–21st centuries====
In the past{{dubious|This is not an acceptable definition. I presume it refers to C20. If (also) C19, place it there - if the source gives clear indication for it.|date=March 2020}} women could be found sitting at the entrance to the Wall every Sabbath holding fragrant herbs and spices in order to enable worshipers to make additional blessings. In the hot weather they would provide cool water. The women also used to cast lots for the privilege of sweeping and washing the alleyway at the foot of the Wall.<ref name= SLC/>

Throughout several centuries, the Wall is where Jews have gathered to express gratitude to God or to pray for divine mercy. On news of the [[Normandy landings]] on June 6, 1944 thousands of Jews went to the Wall to offer prayers for the "success of His Majesty's and Allied Forces in the liberation of all enemy-occupied territory."<ref>{{cite book
| last= Gilbert
| first= Martin
| author-link= Martin Gilbert
| title= Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century
| year= 1996
| publisher= [[Chatto & Windus]]
| location= London
| isbn= 0-7011-3070-9
| page= 167
| chapter= The Second World War, 1939–1945
}}</ref> On October 13, 1994, 50,000 gathered to pray for the safe return of kidnapped soldier [[Nachshon Wachsman]].<ref>{{cite book
| last= Gilbert
| first= Martin
| author-link= Martin Gilbert
| title= Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century
| year= 1996
| publisher= [[Chatto & Windus]]
| location= London
| isbn= 0-7011-3070-9
| page= 353
| chapter= Towards the Twenty-First Century
}}</ref> August 10, 2005 saw a massive prayer rally at the Wall. Estimates of people protesting [[Israel's unilateral disengagement plan]] ranged from 50,000 to 250,000 people.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3125587,00.html
| title= 70,000 protest pullout at Western Wall
| last= Marciano
| first= Ilan
| access-date =December 26, 2007
| date= August 10, 2005
| work= [[Ynet]]
}}</ref> Every year on [[Tisha B'Av]] large crowds congregate at the Wall to commemorate the destruction of the Temple. In 2007 over 100,000 gathered.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123174
| title= 100,000 Jews At Western Wall for Tisha B'Av 5767
| last= Ratzlav-Katz
| first= Nissan
| access-date =December 26, 2007
| date= July 23, 2007
| publisher= [[Arutz Sheva]]
}}</ref> During the month of [[Tishrei]] 2009, a record 1.5 million people visited the site.<ref>Judith Weil. "Kosel Visitors record", ''Jewish Tribune'', October 22, 2010.</ref>

===Relation to the Foundation Stone===
In Judaism, the Western Wall is venerated as the sole remnant of the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Holy Temple]]. It has become a place of pilgrimage for Jews, as it is the closest permitted accessible site to the holiest spot in Judaism, namely the ''Even ha-shetiya'' or [[Foundation Stone]], which lies on the Temple Mount. According to one rabbinic opinion, Jews may not set foot upon the Temple Mount and doing so is a sin punishable by [[Kareth]]. While almost all historians and archaeologists and some rabbinical authorities believe that the rocky outcrop in the [[Dome of the Rock]] is the Foundation Stone,<ref>[[Radbaz]] [[Responsa]] 691: "Under the [[Dome of the Rock|dome]] on the Temple Mount, which the Arabs call El-Sakhrah, without a doubt, is the location of the Foundation Stone."; Ya'ari, Avraham: ''Igrot Eretz Yisrael'' by [[Obadiah ben Abraham]], [[Ramat Gan]] 1971: "I sought the place of the Foundation Stone where the [[Ark of the Covenant]] was placed, and many people told me it is under a tall and beautiful [[Dome of the Rock|dome]] which the Arabs built in the Temple precinct."</ref> some rabbis say it is located directly opposite the exposed section of the Western Wall, near the El-kas fountain.<ref>[[Moishe Sternbuch|Sternbuch, Moishe]] ''Teshuvos Ve-hanhagos'' Vol. 3, Ch. 39: "In truth they have erred, thinking that the stone upon they built their dome was in fact the Foundation Stone, however, most possibly, the Stone is located further to the south in the open space opposite the exposed section of the Western Wall."</ref> This spot was the site of the [[Kodesh Hakodashim|Holy of Holies]] when the Temple stood.

===Part of the Temple proper===
Rabbinic tradition teaches that the western wall was built upon foundations laid by the biblical [[King Solomon]] from the time of the [[First Temple]].<ref name= KHB>Frishman, Avraham; ''Kum Hisalech Be’aretz'', [[Jerusalem]] 2004</ref>

Some medieval rabbis claimed that today's Western Wall is a surviving wall of the Temple itself and cautioned Jews from approaching it, lest they enter the Temple precincts in a state of impurity.<ref>See Radvaz 692</ref> Many contemporary rabbis believe that the rabbinic traditions were made in reference to the Temple Mount's Western Wall, which accordingly endows the Wall with inherent holiness.<ref name= AH>{{cite book
|last= Horovitz |first= Ahron |title= Jerusalem: Footsteps Through Time |year= 2001
|publisher= [[Feldheim Publishers|Feldheim]] |location=[[Jerusalem]] 
|quote= However, today there is no doubt that the wall is the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount and the Midrash refers to the Temple in its broader sense, that is, the Temple Mount.}}</ref>

===Divine custody===
A 7th-century [[Midrash]] refers to a western wall of the Temple which "would never be destroyed",<ref name= SSR/> and a 6th-century Midrash mentions how [[Roman Empire|Rome]] was unable to topple the western wall due to the Divine oath promising its eternal survival.<ref>[[Lamentations Rabbah]] 1:32</ref>

===Divine Presence===
An 11th-century Midrash quotes a 4th-century scholar: "Rav Acha said that the Divine Presence has never departed from the Western Wall",<ref>[[Exodus Rabbah]] 2:2</ref> and the [[Zohar]] (13th century) similarly writes that "the [[Shekhinah|Divine Presence]] rests upon the Western Wall".<ref>[[Zohar]] [[Mishpatim]] 116</ref>

Eighteenth-century scholar [[Jonathan Eybeschutz]] writes that "after the destruction of the Temple, God removed His Presence from His sanctuary and placed it upon the Western Wall where it remains in its holiness and honour".<ref>''[[Jonathan Eybeschutz#Works|Ya'arot Devash]]'' Vol. 1, Ch. 4</ref> It is told that great Jewish sages, including [[Isaac Luria]] and the [[Radvaz]], experienced a revelation of the Divine Presence at the wall.<ref>See also ''[[Kav ha-Yashar]]'' Ch. 93 and ''[[Chaim Joseph David Azulai#His Shem ha-Gedolim|Shem Ha-gedolim]]'' for a similar account with Rabbi Avraham Ha-levi of Safed.</ref>

===Kabbalah of the word ''kotel''===
Rabbi [[Zvi Hirsch Kaindenover]] discusses the mystical aspect of the Hebrew word ''kotel'' when discussing the significance of praying against a wall. He cites the Zohar which writes that the word ''kotel'', meaning wall, is made up of two parts: "Ko", which has the numerical value of God's name, and "Tel", meaning mount, which refers to the Temple and its Western Wall.<ref>''[[Kav ha-Yashar]]'' Ch. 50</ref>

===Ritual===
[[File:Jews at Western Wall by Felix Bonfils, 1870s.jpg|thumb|right|Jews at the Western Wall, 1870s]]

====Status as a synagogue====
Many contemporary Orthodox [[poskim|scholars]] rule that the area in front of the Wall has the status of a synagogue and must be treated with due respect.<ref name= KHB/> This is the view upheld by the authority in charge of the wall. As such, men and married women are expected to cover their heads upon approaching the Wall, and to dress appropriately. When departing, the custom is to walk backwards away from the Wall to show its sanctity.<ref name= KHB/> On Saturdays, it is forbidden to enter the area with electronic devices, including cameras, which infringe on the sanctity of the [[Sabbath]].

====Contact with the Wall====
Some Orthodox Jewish codifiers warn against inserting fingers into the cracks of the Wall as they believe that the breadth of the Wall constitutes part of the Temple Mount itself and retains holiness, while others who permit doing so claim that the Wall is located outside the Temple area.<ref>See ''[[Avrohom Bornsztain|Avnei Nezer]]'' [[Yoreh Deah]] 450</ref>{{primary source inline|date=February 2016}}

In the past, some visitors would write their names on the Wall, or based upon various scriptural verses, would drive nails into the crevices. These practices stopped after rabbis determined that such actions compromised the sanctity of the Wall.<ref name= SLC/> Another practice also existed whereby pilgrims or those intending to travel abroad would hack off a chip from the Wall or take some of the sand from between its cracks as a good luck charm or memento. In the late 19th century the question was raised as to whether this was permitted and a long [[responsa]] appeared in the Jerusalem newspaper ''[[Israel Dov Frumkin#Havatzelet|Havatzelet]]'' in 1898. It concluded that even if according to Jewish Law it was permitted, the practices should be stopped as it constituted a desecration.<ref name= SLC/> More recently the ''[[Yalkut Yosef]]'' rules that it is forbidden to remove small chips of stone or dust from the Wall, although it is permissible to take twigs from the vegetation which grows in the Wall for an amulet, as they contain no holiness.<ref name= YY>{{cite book |last= Yosef |first= Ovadia |author-link= Ovadia Yosef |title= ''[[Yalkut Yosef]]'' |year= 1990 |location=[[Jerusalem]] |volume= 2, Laws of Kotel HaMa'aravi |pages= 278–282 |no-pp= true}}</ref> Cleaning the stones is also problematic from a [[halachic]] point of view. Blasphemous graffiti once sprayed by a tourist was left visible for months until it began to peel away.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/770030.html
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228021554/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/770030.html
| url-status=dead
| archive-date=December 28, 2007
| title=Western Wall rabbi forbids proposed burning of prayer notes
| last=Shragai
| first=Nadav
| access-date=December 16, 2007
| date=October 5, 2006
| newspaper=[[Haaretz]]
}}</ref>

====Barefoot approach====
[[File:Wall of Solomon, c1880.jpg|thumb|The faithful remove their shoes upon approaching the Wall, {{Circa|1880}}]]

There was once an old custom of removing one's shoes upon approaching the Wall. A 17th-century collection of special prayers to be said at holy places mentions that "upon coming to the Western Wall one should remove his shoes, bow and recite...".<ref name= SLC/> Rabbi Moses Reicher wrote{{year needed|date=February 2016}} that "it is a good and praiseworthy custom to approach the Western Wall in white garments after ablution, kneel and prostrate oneself in submission and recite "This is nothing other than the House of God and here is the gate of Heaven." When within four [[cubit]]s of the Wall, one should remove their footwear."<ref name= SLC/> Over the years the custom of standing barefoot at the Wall has ceased, as there is no need to remove one's shoes when standing by the Wall, because the plaza area is outside the sanctified precinct of the Temple Mount.<ref name= YY/>

====Mourning over the Temple's destruction====
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 3432 9 av kotel.JPG|thumb|[[Tisha B'Av]] at the Western Wall, 1970s]]

According to Jewish Law, one is obliged to grieve and rend one's garment upon visiting the Western Wall and seeing the desolate site of the Temple.<ref>[[Moed Katan]] 26a; [[Orach Chaim]] 561; [[Yoreh Deah]] 340</ref> [[Yoel Sirkis|Bach]] (17th century) instructs that "when one sees the Gates of Mercy which are situated in the Western Wall, which is the wall [[David|King David]] built, he should recite: Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the nations: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the Lord".<ref>''Bayit Chadash'' to [[Orach Chaim]] 561. He contends that the city itself is in such a state of disrepair that once a person has reached the hills surrounding Jerusalem, he can immediately view the Western Wall.</ref> Some [[poskim|scholars]] write that rending one's garments is not applicable nowadays as Jerusalem is under Jewish control. Others disagree, pointing to the fact that the Temple Mount is controlled by the Muslim ''[[Office of the Waqf Administrator|waqf]]'' and that the mosques which sit upon the Temple site should increase feelings of distress. If one hasn't seen the Wall for over 30 days, the prevailing custom is to rend one's garments, but this can be avoided if one visits on the Sabbath or on festivals.<ref>[[Shlomo Zalman Aurbach|Minchas Shlomo]] Vol. 1, Ch. 73. See also: [http://www.rjconline.org/hib52.htm Tearing keriah for Jerusalem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501114501/http://www.rjconline.org/hib52.htm |date=May 1, 2009 }}; [http://www.ksy.org.il/AskTheRabbi.asp?QID=89 Ask the Rabbi: Kosel Keriah] </ref> According to Donneal Epstein, a person who has not seen the Wall within the last 30 days should recite: "Our Holy Temple, which was our glory, in which our forefathers praised You, was burned and all of our delights were destroyed".<ref>Epstein, Donneal. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fltQaoNFXX4C&dq=Halachos+for+the+Traveler+%22Our+Holy+Temple,+which+was+our+glory,+in+which+our+forefathers+praised+You%22&pg=PA70 Halachos for the Traveler], [[Feldheim Publishers|Feldheim]] 2000, p. 70. {{ISBN|1-58330-439-8}}.</ref>

====Significance as place of prayer====
[[File:Women at western wall.jpg|thumb|Women at prayer, early 20th century]]

The Sages of the Talmud stated that anyone who prays at the [[Temple in Jerusalem]], "it is as if he has prayed before the throne of glory because the gate of heaven is situated there and it is open to hear prayer."<ref>[[Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer]] 35</ref> Jewish Law stipulates that the [[Amidah|Silent Prayer]] should be recited facing [[mizrah|towards Jerusalem]], the Temple and ultimately the Holy of Holies,<ref>''[[Shlomo Ganzfried#Kitzur Shulchan Aruch|Kitzur Shulchan Aruch]]'' 18:10. The ''[[Yaakov Chaim Sofer|Kaf hachaim]]'' ([[Orach Chaim]] 94:1:4 citing [[Radvaz]] Vol. 2; Ch. 648) rules that if a Jew was forced onto the Temple Mount and the time of prayer arrived while he's standing between the Western Wall and the place of the Holy of Holies, "he should pray facing towards the Holy of Holies even though his back will be facing the Western Wall."</ref> as God's bounty and blessing emanates from that spot.<ref name= KHB/> It is generally believed that prayer by the Western Wall is particularly beneficial since it was that wall which was situated closest to the Holy of Holies.<ref name= KHB/> Rabbi [[Jacob Ettlinger]] (1798–1871) writes, making reference to a medieval rabbi, "since the Theology and ritual Israel's prayers ascend on high there... as one of the great ancient kabbalists Rabbi [[Joseph Gikatilla]] said, when the Jews send their prayers from the Diaspora in the direction of Jerusalem, from there they ascend by way of the Western Wall."<ref name= SLC/> A well-known ''[[Segula (Kabbalah)|segula]]'' (efficacious remedy) for finding one's soulmate is to pray for 40 consecutive days at the Western Wall,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=peGw2sZVN5QC&pg=PA486 |page=486 |last=Kiel |first=Dvora |title=When the Time is Right: Manifestations of Divine Providence in everyday life |publisher=Feldheim Publishers |year=2007 |isbn= 978-965-7371-29-9}}</ref> a practice apparently conceived by Rabbi [[Yisroel Yaakov Fisher]] (1928–2003).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://westernwallprayers.org/aboutwwp/originofthe40days.html |title=Origin of the 40 Days |year=2012 |access-date=March 18, 2012 |publisher=westernwallprayers.org}}</ref>

====Egalitarian and non-Orthodox prayer====
[[File:Men's and women's prayer areas at the Western Wall, seen from walkway to the Dome of the Rock.jpg|thumb|right|The separate areas for men (top) and women, seen from the walkway to the Dome of the Rock|alt=Two large groups of people, seen from slightly above them, separated by a white cloth barrier, standing before a beige stone wall whose top cannot be seen, with another wall in the rear. The group in the foreground is all female, the one in the rear is all male, with many wearing white robes or shrouds]]

While during the late 19th century, no formal segregation of men and women was to be found at the Wall,<ref>[http://tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/130878/the-womens-wall The Women's Wall] Tablet Magazine, April 30, 2013</ref> conflict erupted in July 1968 when members of the [[World Union for Progressive Judaism]] were denied the right to host a mixed-gender service at the site after the Ministry of Religious Affairs insisted on maintaining the gender segregation customary at Orthodox places of worship. The progressives responded by claiming that "the Wall is a shrine of all Jews, not one particular branch of Judaism."<ref name= jta/>

In 1988, the small but vocal group called [[Women of the Wall]] launched a campaign for recognition of non-Orthodox prayer at the Wall.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://womenofthewall.org.il/about/mission-statement/ |title= Mission Statement |work= Women of the Wall – נשות הכותל |url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308072412/http://womenofthewall.org.il/about/mission-statement/ |archive-date= March 8, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://womenofthewall.org.il/about/history/ |title= History |work =Women of the Wall – נשות הכותל |url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308070301/http://womenofthewall.org.il/about/history/ |archive-date= March 8, 2016 |df= mdy-all}}</ref> Their form and manner of prayer elicited a violent response from some Orthodox worshippers and they were subsequently banned from holding services at the site.<ref name= NYT13/> After repeated attacks by [[haredim]], in 1989 the Women of the Wall petitioned to secure the right of women to pray at the wall without restrictions.<ref name= wound>{{cite news |last= Nathan-Kazis |first= Josh |title= Embassy Letter on Kotel Rubs Salt in the Wound |url=http://www.forward.com/articles/124477/ |access-date= July 13, 2010 |newspaper=[[The Jewish Daily Forward]] |date= February 5, 2010 |location= New York, New York}}</ref>

A decade on, some commentators called for the closure of the Wall unless an acceptable solution to the controversy was found.<ref name= Tear>Bleiweiss, Robert. "Tear Down the Western Wall". ''Jewish Spectator'', 1997. p. 3: "There is no quick or easily acceptable way to change this sorry situation, so the blighted thing probably ought to be torn down before its continued presence leads to the irreparable splitting of the Jews and perhaps even civil war and the end of the state of Israel."</ref>

In 2003 [[Israel's Supreme Court]] upheld the ban on non-Orthodox worship at the Wall,<ref name= virtual/>{{better source needed|date=December 2022}} disallowing any women from reading publicly from the Torah or wearing traditional [[tallit|prayer shawls]] at the plaza itself, but instructed the Israeli government to prepare the site of Robinson's Arch to host such events,<ref name= wound/> given that this area does not come under the direct control of the Rabbi of the Wall or the Ministry of Religious Affairs.<ref name= virtual/>{{better source needed|date=December 2022}} The government responded by allocating Robinson's Arch for such purposes.<ref name= wound/>

The Robinson's Arch worship site was inaugurated in August 2004 and has since hosted services by [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] and [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] groups, as well as services by the Women of the Wall.<ref name= NYT13/>

In 2012, critics still complained about the restrictions at the Western Wall, saying Israel had "turned a national monument into an ultra-Orthodox synagogue."<ref>{{cite web |author= Rudoren, Jodi |title= Israel to Review Curbs on Women's Prayer at Western Wall |date= December 26, 2012 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/26/world/middleeast/israeli-law-curbing-womens-prayer-up-for-review.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

In April 2013 things came to a head. In response to the repeated arrest of women, including [[Anat Hoffman]], found flouting the law, the [[Jewish Agency]] observed 'the urgent need to reach a permanent solution and make the Western Wall once again a symbol of unity among the Jewish people, and not one of discord and strife."<ref name= NYT13/> Jewish Agency leader [[Natan Sharansky]] spearheaded a concept that would expand and renovate the Robinson's Arch area into an area where people may "perform worship rituals not based on the Orthodox interpretation of Jewish tradition."<ref name="forward.com">Guttman, Nathan and Jane Eisner. [http://forward.com/articles/174588/kotel-egalitarian-prayer-plan-set-in-motion-by-dra/?p=all "Kotel Egalitarian Prayer Plan Set in Motion by Dramatic Western Wall Compromise."] ''The Jewish Daily Forward''. April 10-12, 2013.</ref> The Jerusalem District Court ruled that as long as there was no other appropriate area for pluralistic prayer, prayer according to non-Orthodox custom should be allowed at the Wall,<ref name="jpost.com">{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Pending-deal-with-Women-of-the-Wall-would-annul-regulations-banning-non-Orthodox-practice-at-Kotel-346510 |title= Pending deal with Women of the Wall would annul regulations banning non-Orthodox practice at Kotel |date=26 March 2014 |newspaper= The Jerusalem Post}}</ref> and a judge ruled that the 2003 Israeli Supreme Court ruling prohibiting women from carrying a Torah or wearing prayer shawls had been misinterpreted and that Women of the Wall prayer gatherings at the Wall should not be deemed as disturbing the public order.<ref name= NYT13/>

[[File:Azarat Yisrael Plaza.jpg|thumb|Ezrat Yisrael Plaza (prayer platform), Robinson's Arch, opened August 2013]]

On August 25, 2013, a new 4,480 square foot prayer platform named "Ezrat Yisrael Plaza" was completed as part of this plan of facilitating non-Orthodox worship, with access to the platform at all hours, even when the rest of the area's archaeological park is closed to visitors.<ref name="platform">Jaffay, Nathan, [http://forward.com/articles/183130/is-western-wall-prayer-platform-step-forward-for-w/?p=all, "Is Western Wall Prayer Platform a Step Forward For Women – or Back?"], ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', August 30, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2014.</ref><ref name="Separate — but not equal">Pollack, Suzanne, [http://washingtonjewishweek.com/5015/separate-but-not-equal/ ''Separate – but not equal''], ''Washington Jewish Week'', August 28, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2014.</ref> After some controversy regarding the question of authority over this prayer area, the announcement was made that it would come under the authority of a future government-appointed "pluralist council" that would include non-Orthodox representatives.<ref name="council">[http://forward.com/articles/193988/pluralist-council-will-oversee-robinsons-arch-at-w/ "Pluralist Council Will Oversee Robinson's Arch at Western Wall"], ''Jewish Daily Forward'' (from Jewish Telegraphic Agency press release), published March 6, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.</ref>

In January 2016, the Israeli Cabinet approved a plan to designate a new space at the Kotel that would be available for egalitarian prayer and that would not be controlled by the Rabbinate. Women of the Wall welcomed the decision,<ref name="NYT2016">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/01/world/middleeast/israel-western-wall-prayer.html |title= Israel Approves Prayer Space at Western Wall for Non-Orthodox Jews |date= February 1, 2016 |work= The New York Times}}</ref> although Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar of Jerusalem said creating a mixed-gender prayer section was paramount to destroying the Wall. The Chief Rabbinate said it would create an alternate plan.<ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-rabbi-mixed-gender-plaza-akin-to-razing-western-wall/ Jerusalem chief rabbi: Mixed-gender plaza akin to razing Western Wall] Times of Israel, March 6, 2016</ref> In June 2017, it was announced that the plan approved in January 2016 had been suspended.<ref name="jweekly1">{{cite web |last=Sales |first=Ben |url=http://www.jweekly.com/2017/06/26/suspension-of-western-wall-deal-leaves-jewish-leaders-feeling-betrayed/ |title=Suspension of Western Wall deal leaves Jewish leaders feeling betrayed – J |publisher=Jweekly.com |date=2017-06-26 |access-date=2017-07-21}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=http://www.jta.org/2017/06/25/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/netanyahu-rescinds-pluralistic-western-wall-agreement |title=Israel freezes Western Wall compromise that was to create egalitarian prayer section &#124; Jewish Telegraphic Agency |publisher=Jta.org |date=2017-06-25 |access-date=2017-07-21}}</ref>

====Prayer notes====
{{Main|Placing notes in the Western Wall}}
[[File:Prayer Papers in the Western Wall.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Slips of paper containing prayers in the cracks of the Wall]]

There is a much publicised practice of placing slips of paper containing [[kvitelach|written prayers]] into the crevices of the Wall. The earliest account of this practice describes [[Chaim ibn Attar]] (d. 1743) writing an amulet for a petitioner and instructing him to place it inside the wall.<ref>{{Cite web |title=מסעות ירושלים - גולדשטין, משה בן יהודה (page 76 of 284) |url=https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=10152&st=&pgnum=76 |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=hebrewbooks.org}}</ref> More than a million notes are placed each year<ref>{{cite magazine|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' |magazine=Time |date=July 25, 2008 |access-date=August 19, 2009}}</ref> and the opportunity to e-mail notes is offered by a number of organisations.<ref>{{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
}}</ref> It has become customary for visiting dignitaries to place notes too.<ref>{{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= October 7, 2008
| publisher= [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Tim|last=McGirk|title=Obama's Private Prayer Leaked|date=July 25, 2008|work=Time Magazine|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}}</ref>

====Chabad tefillin stand====
Shortly after the Western Wall came under Israeli control in 1967, a stand of the [[Chabad]] movement offering [[Tefillin|phylacteries]] (''tefillin'') was erected with permission from Rabbi [[Yehuda Meir Getz]], the first rabbi of the Kotel. The stand offers male visitors the chance to put on ''tefillin'', a daily Jewish prayer ritual. In the months following the [[Six-Day War]] an estimated 400,000 Jews observed this ritual at the stand.<ref>{{cite news |first= Leo |last= Schapiro |date= November 25, 1967 |title= Lubavitchers Push Tefillin Campaign |work= Boston Globe |quote= Since the Six Day War in June which resulted in the creation of a united Jerusalem as part of Israel, more than 400,000 members of the Jewish faith are estimated to have observed the commandment to wear Phylacteries – tefillin In Hebrew – at the city's Western, formerly known as the "Wailing” Wall.}}</ref> The stand is staffed by multilingual Chabad volunteers and an estimated 100,000 male visitors put on tefillin there annually.<ref>{{cite news |first= Dovid |last= Margolin |title= 50 Years After Six-Day War, How the Kotel Became Synonymous With Tefillin |date= May 15, 2017 |url=http://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/3674194/jewish/50-Years-After-Six-Day-War-How-the-Kotel-Became-Synonymous-With-Tefillin.htm |work= Chabad.org}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2022}}