The Wailing Wall

Once upon a time I was walking down the street from the Jerusalem Center with my friend Ben next to me. At this particular moment he was teasing me once again. Exacerbated (I had to look up how to spell that) by his snark, I pushed him into the street. In the states the neighborhood speed limit would have been 25 miles per hour, but in Jerusalem speed limits don’t seem to exist. Just as I was yanking him back onto the sidewalk…a car flew past rather closely.

Long story short, the running joke is that I owe dear Ben here his life. His first request is that I post a blog entry he wrote for me about the past two days of this amazing adventure. Enjoy. 

“So I saw some Jews yesterday.  It was utterly amazing.  The Jewish Sabbath starts on Friday at sundown and lasts until sundown on Sunday.  To commemorate our Jewish heritage, we went to the Western wall.  It was CRAZY! I don’t think I’ve ever seen more people in my life.  First off, the western wall (aka wailing wall) is sort of like the Jewish temple.  The wall is the outer temple of the 2^nd temple, and the Jews wont go inside the temple for fear of walking on the area that once was the holy of holies. 

Secondly, there are thousands of people that go.  It’s a mix between general conference and the temple for the LDS.  It was not only impressive, but quite humbling.  Needless to say, I have even more respect for the Jewish culture and religion. 

We had an Indiana Jones movie night in preparation for our Jordan trip next week. So, until next time, Shalom y’all.”

(The Wailing Wall a few days later during the day. Not quite the same.)

My turn:
In short, placing my hand on the wailing wall surrounded by thousands of devout Jewish women was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Tears fell on all sides of me as women finally made it to what they believed to be the holiest spot on earth. I slipped a tiny piece of paper with names of each of my family members into the wall, said a prayer with my hand against the stones touched by millions over the years, and listened to hymns and prayers in Hebrew all around me. Yes, we believe very different things, but there is something so entirely unifying about mutual faith in something more. I have never felt something equivalent to this. I wish I could express what an awe-inspiring, exquisite moment this was. Someday I will find the words, but for now you will have to embrace what Ben and I have written. Love you all.

p.s. I LOVE SARA/VAN WAG/MY DAUGHTER.