There are no days off for prayers sent to heaven. There are no days off at the most prayerful places in the world. The Jerusalem Wailing Wall is no exception. She saw many and many: beggars and billionaires, priests and astronauts, politicians and the righteous.
An ancient Jewish legend says: when the stones of the Western Wall weep, Moshiach (Messiah) will come to earth and worship him in the rebuilt Third Temple, all the Jews of the world. Perhaps part of the prophecy has already been fulfilled? Perhaps Moshiach has already appeared on earth, because not so long ago - by historical standards - the stones of the Wall exuded tears. This happened in 1940, and then in 2002, and it is still not clear why the stones were crying: for banal technical reasons, due to malfunctions in the water hose system, or was it a partial fulfillment of centuries-old prayers?
The emergence of the Western Wall
Many millennia ago, on the place where today only huge monolithic stones rise majestically, a beautiful Temple was built by the wise king Solomon. It stood for nearly four hundred years, but one of the many conquerors came to the land of the ancient Jews and destroyed it. Exactly fifty years have passed and, it would seem, the Temple, which had been swept off the face of the earth by the Babylonian king Novokhudanosor, was resurrected again - more beautiful than before. He was named the Second. Legends about his greatness spread throughout the world, but again four hundred and fifty years later, during one of the Jewish wars, this Temple was destroyed. All that remains of it is only the western Wall, which served as protection for the Temple, but did not protect the Jewish shrine. Its length is only 156 meters and the place in front of it is unevenly divided for prayers into male and female parts. There heavens have been hearing prayers for grief and joy for more than five millennia.
What the stones cry about
How many prayers did the Western Wall hear? How much could you bring to the address? Only she knows this. Every day, old people and children, men and women of different confessions send their prayers before her, because the Wall belongs not only to the Jews, it has long belonged to the world, and the Jews do not mind.
Moreover, they know that one day the centuries-old prayers-regrets about the destroyed Temple will be heard and on this place the Third, even more beautiful Temple will rise, and then Moshiach will come. Is it not about this unrealizable dream that the Wall of the Ruined Temple cries every few decades? After all, the modern world certainly does not portend anything like this.
Or maybe she is crying for all those whose prayers remained unanswered? Or about those who died in numerous wars and never saw the ancient Jewish shrine? I didn’t see it, despite the old covenant that Jews all over the world have been saying for two thousand years: "We will meet next year in Jerusalem!.."
Who knows … But another legend says that if you come to the Wall on the Mournful day of 9 Av - the day of mourning when the first and second Temples were destroyed - then one day you can see the stones cry, and then … Then, having prayed, you are all in you can change your life and the lives of your loved ones.
Prayer at the Wailing Wall via the Internet
Modern technologies allow everyone to write their own note and send it to the servants of the Wall in any language of the world. On the site stenaplacha.ru everyone can leave their secret prayers in the hope that kind people will print a note and post it within 4-6 weeks in one of the most prayerful places on earth. The ministers promise that they will definitely deliver your prayer to the Wall, which means to God.
And it's nothing that every night thousands of such messages are carefully scooped out of all the cracks and joints between the stones, making room for new ones - that's nothing. They are put into special bags, which are then dipped into the mikvah, and then carefully buried. The main thing is that an intimate contact happened, which means that there is hope for the fulfillment of desire.
