Keeping the City safe
I will take the prayers you gave to me and place them in the cracks of that ancient wall as I offer my own prayers. I will touch those timeless stones as I reach out to touch the Holy.
I have just returned from an extraordinary experience at “the wall.” Thousands of Jews from all over the world were gathered in that massive courtyard, saying or singing their prayers aloud. While most of them were praying in Hebrew, I heard other languages as well. This made it a very Pentecost kind of experience for me.
As the crowd thinned, I made my way to the wall and placed your written prayers in cracks. It wasn’t easy to find room for them, so many were placed there probably using knives because the cracks were so thin.
Then I offered my prayers and as I did my tears came unbidden. I don’t know why they came. Perhaps it was the grief of those around me whose Temple is no more. Perhaps it was being overwhelmed that I am the first in my family that I know of who had come there to pray. Or maybe it was just being in the Holy City. Extraordinary!
Sorry, no cameras allowed at the Wall, so no pictures to share of that event. But we sure felt safe knowing that teenage girls with automatic weapons were watching over us.
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