Editing Western Wall (section)

====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/>