The "Western Wall" or "Wailing Wall" as it is also known sits in the midst of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is the section of the Western supporting wall of the Temple Mount which has remained intact since the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple (70 C.E.). The "Western Wall" has become the most sacred spot in Jewish religious and national importance and tradition by virtue of its proximity to the Western Wall of the Holy of Holies in the Temple, from which, it is beleived, the Divine Presence never departed. It has become a center of mourning over the destruction of the Temple and Israel's exile, and with the memory of Israel's former glory and the hope for its restoration. Because of the mourning, it became known in European languages as the "Wailing Wall". From December 1947, after bloody incidents with the Arabs, Jews were no longer able to approach the Wall. After the capitulation of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City in May 1948, Jews were prevented for 19 years from even looking at the Wall from afar, in spite of a paragraph in the cease-fire agreement granting freedom of access to the holy places. The Wall was liberated during the Six-Day war on June 7, 1967; by Israel's parachutists breaking through the "bloody gate" which the mufti had opened. The Moghrabi quarter was demolished, and on the first day of Shavuot, 250,000 Jews swarmed to the place. The buildings against the Wall southward were removed. The cleared area in front of the Western Wall was then leveled and changed into a paved open space. The lower square near the Wall is the prayer area. The surface of the wall, from the pavement and up to a person's height, also differs in color and feel since it is polished by the human hands that touched it during prayers throughout the centuries.
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| Rabbi Shlomo Goren In Charge Western Wall Or Wailing Wall | Rabbi Shlomo Goren In Charge Western Wall Or Wailing Wall |
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| Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall | Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall |
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| Womens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall | Womens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall |
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| Womens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall | Womens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall |
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| Womens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall | Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall |
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| Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall | Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall |
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| Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall | Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall |
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| Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall | Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall |
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| Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall | Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall |
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| Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall | Mens Section Western Wall Or Wailing Wall |
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