The "Wall" - Then and Now

I can remember - and I am sure so can all of you - when a tour group of Jews landing at Ben-Gurion Airport would be informed that their very first itinerary item is a visit to the Wall.

And the bus would take off for Jerusalem and the expectant visitors would arrive in Jerusalem, make their way to the Western Wall Plaza and each would then approach the Western Wall, the last standing element of the Second Temple they would be told, where Jews have prayed and cried tears for hundreds of years.  And they would even slip into the cracks between the 2000-year old stones a piece of paper, perhaps a prayer for a sick relative or a wish for a grandchild.  And they would feel the connection over the generations that just as their ancestors had done or tried to do or at least prayed to do, they could now do after the 19-year period of the illegal Jordanian occupation when Jews were banned from approaching the holy site and where, under the British Mandatory regime it was dangerous, at times, to approach and when, after 1930, the blowing of the shofar there could get you imprisoned.

What a powerful moment.  Spiritually and historically.

But now, I have been informed, there are groups, like the one from a city in upstate New York, who were informed that their first location to visit would be the Wall in Jerusalem - meaning the security barrier that tries to protect Jews from Islamic terror.

Yes, the "Wall" has now been transmorgrified - not the remnant but a propaganda ploy.

Woe is the Jewish people that Rabbis and lay leaders set this "wall" over their chief joy.

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