Western Wall

The Western Wall is the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount (the hill on which the ancient Temple once stood) in the Old City of Jerusalem. A retaining wall is a wall built to hold back earth and keep it from collapsing. In Hebrew it is called HaKotel HaMa'aravi, meaning "the Western Wall," or simply the Kotel; in Arabic it is called the Buraq Wall. The name "Wailing Wall" is said to have been given by Europeans because Jews have long prayed here in mourning for the destruction of the Temple.

Background

In the late first century BC, beginning around 20 BC, Herod the Great undertook a major rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem and enlarged the hill on which it stood. To support the expanded platform, he built retaining walls of massive stones on all sides; the Western Wall is part of the western retaining wall. This was also the Temple of the time of Jesus Christ. The Gospels record that Jesus, looking at the Temple buildings, said, "There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down" (Matthew 24:2).

History

• AD 70: The Roman army captured Jerusalem and burned the Temple. Although the Temple building was destroyed, the retaining walls that supported its platform remained.
• From the second century: After suppressing the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135), the Roman Empire barred Jews from entering Jerusalem. According to tradition, during the Byzantine period Jews were permitted to enter only on the day commemorating the Temple's destruction, when they came to lament.
• Ottoman period (from the sixteenth century): The narrow alley in front of the Western Wall is believed to have become established as a place of Jewish prayer.
• 1929: Under the British Mandate, conflict arose between Jews and Muslims over the manner of prayer at the Wall, and this became one of the triggers of the violent clashes in Palestine that year.
• 1948–1967: With the Old City of Jerusalem under Jordanian control, Jews were unable to visit the Wall.
• 1967: Israel took East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War (the Third Arab–Israeli War). The houses of the Mughrabi Quarter in front of the Wall were then demolished to create the broad plaza that exists today.

Legacy and Impact

Today the plaza in front of the Wall functions as an open-air synagogue, with separate prayer sections for men and women, and it also hosts bar mitzvah ceremonies and national events. The custom of placing written prayers in the crevices between the stones is widely known. Because the Wall adjoins the Temple Mount, which is also an Islamic holy site, it has become a symbol of the Israeli–Palestinian dispute over ownership and access. Within Judaism, too, there has been ongoing debate between Orthodox and non-Orthodox movements over matters such as how women may pray there.

Assessment

In Judaism the Western Wall is the closest accessible point to the site where the Temple stood, and it symbolizes both the nation's loss and its restoration. Among Korean churches it is regarded as a major destination on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and pilgrims sometimes pray there or leave written prayers.

Protestants are divided in their understanding of the Wall's religious significance. Believers who hold a dispensationalist perspective sometimes link Israel's recovery of Jerusalem in 1967 to the fulfillment of biblical prophecy or regard it as a sign that the end times are near. By contrast, believers in the covenant theology tradition hold that the role of the Temple has been fulfilled in Christ, and they tend to respect the Wall as a historical site without attaching special theological significance to it. They cite John 4:20–23, which teaches that worship is not bound to any particular place.