The Western Wall: Difference between revisions
Created page with "thumb = The Western Wall = The Western Wall (in short: 'the Kotel'), is one of the four retaining walls surrounding the Temple Mount for about two thousand years, from the end of the Second Temple period until our days. The Western Wall has special holiness. The Wall is considered the second most important Jewish site in the world, after the Temple Mount. From this place onward begins the sanctity of the Holy Temple according to vario..." |
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[[File:הכותל פנורמה.jpg|thumb | [[File:הכותל פנורמה.jpg|thumb|The Western Wall]] | ||
The Western Wall (in short: 'the Kotel'), is one of the four retaining walls surrounding the Temple Mount for about two thousand years, from the end of the Second Temple period until our days. The Western Wall has special holiness. The Wall is considered the second most important Jewish site in the world, after the Temple Mount. From this place onward begins the sanctity of the Holy Temple according to various levels. | The Western Wall (in short: 'the Kotel'), is one of the four retaining walls surrounding the Temple Mount for about two thousand years, from the end of the Second Temple period until our days. The Western Wall has special holiness. The Wall is considered the second most important Jewish site in the world, after the Temple Mount. From this place onward begins the sanctity of the Holy Temple according to various levels. | ||
"The Divine Presence has never departed from the western walls" - says the holy Zohar. | "The Divine Presence has never departed from the western walls" - says the holy [[Sefer HaZohar|Zohar]]. | ||
[[File:הכותל המערבי.jpg|thumb]] | [[File:הכותל המערבי.jpg|thumb|The Western Wall Aerial View]] | ||
== Sanctity of the House in the Present Time == | == Sanctity of the House in the Present Time == | ||
The Rambam's opinion is that even today the punishment of karet applies because the first sanctification remains sanctified for the future as well. But the Raavad's opinion is that there is no punishment of karet today. | The Rambam's opinion is that even today the punishment of karet applies because the first sanctification remains sanctified for the future as well. But the Raavad's opinion is that there is no punishment of karet today. | ||
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When the Rebbe finished his prayer, he turned his head to those gathered around and asked whether it was customary to kiss these holy stones. After receiving an affirmative answer, "the Rebbe raised his eyes full of tears and expressing infinite sorrow over the expanses of the Western Wall, bowed his head, and the sound of the holy kiss on the remnant of our Temple was heard." | When the Rebbe finished his prayer, he turned his head to those gathered around and asked whether it was customary to kiss these holy stones. After receiving an affirmative answer, "the Rebbe raised his eyes full of tears and expressing infinite sorrow over the expanses of the Western Wall, bowed his head, and the sound of the holy kiss on the remnant of our Temple was heard." | ||
"In those few hours" - the Rebbe concludes - "I lived, I forgot about everything, I was a handbreadth higher, I tasted moments of life"... | "In those few hours" - the Rebbe concludes - "I lived, I forgot about everything, I was a handbreadth higher, I tasted moments of life"...[[File:מכתבו של הרבי לרב גץ.jpeg|thumb|The Rebbe's letter to Rabbi Getz regarding the excavations at the Western Wall]] | ||
The Rebbe's letter to Rabbi Getz regarding the excavations at the Western Wall | |||
== Tefillin Campaign at the Western Wall == | == Tefillin Campaign at the Western Wall == | ||
[[File:דוכן בכותל.jpg|thumb|Tefillin booth at the Western Wall]] | |||
[[File:דוכן בכותל.jpg|thumb]] | |||
After the liberation of the Western Wall on the 28th of Iyar 5727 (1967), during the Six-Day War, Chabad Chassidim began putting on tefillin with visitors to the site, as part of the tefillin campaign announced by the Rebbe before the outbreak of the war. | After the liberation of the Western Wall on the 28th of Iyar 5727 (1967), during the Six-Day War, Chabad Chassidim began putting on tefillin with visitors to the site, as part of the tefillin campaign announced by the Rebbe before the outbreak of the war. | ||
[[File:כותל.jpg|thumb]] | [[File:כותל.jpg|thumb|Mitzvah Tank at the Western Wall]] | ||
Shortly thereafter, on the 21st of Sivan, a telegram arrived from the Rebbe's secretariat with the following instruction: | Shortly thereafter, on the 21st of Sivan, a telegram arrived from the Rebbe's secretariat with the following instruction: | ||
