The Western Wall in Jerusalem

The Western Wall is one of Jerusalem’s most known sites, to Jewish, Israelis and visitors. It is the holiest site for Jews all over the world.

The part of the wall that is exposed is what is by most is referred to as The Western Wall. However, what we today can see is only a small section of a much larger wall that stretches for some 488 meters total. This larger wall is really the Western retaining wall to the Temple Mount, built by Herod  the Great, beginning 19 BCE.

What is commonly referred to as The Western Wall is 57 meter long and 19 meters high. There are a total of 45 courses of stone, 28 above present ground level, 17 below. These 17 courses plus 7 visible courses are the original stones from Herods retaining wall. The next four courses were added in the early Arab period (636-1099), the next 14 from the Ottoman period, and the last three were added in the 20th century.

Until the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in the year 70 CE, it was the Temple, standing on the Temple Mount platform, that was the holy place for Jews, and where they would come three times a year to worship.

In the years following this destruction, Jews were banned from living in Jerusalem, and only allowed in at certain times of the year for devotion and prayers. At this early stage, Jews still harbored dreams of being allowed to rebuild the Temple, a dream that was finally thwarted in the 2nd century folloing the Bar Kochba Rebellion.

It is not clear when Jews began coming to this section to pray. We do know that Jews in 425 were granted permission to settle again in Jerusalem by the Empress Aelia Eudocia. There are some sources that indicate that at this stage Jews were beginning to pray at the Wall. We have many more sources from early Middle Ages that show that this was the place where Jews congregated for prayers and devotional purposes.

With the Arab conquest in 636, and the building of the Dome of the Rock and The Al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount itself, all non-Moslems are now banned from entering this area.

Postcard, early 20th C

The large plaza in front of the Wall today was not always there. Following the Arar conquest of the land and Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1193, the land in front of the Wall was built up and settled by Arabs from Morocco, and therefore became known as the Mograbi Quarter (Mograbi = Morocco).

In the centuries following is the time when the tradition of the holiness of the Wall becomes permanent. At the same time, Muslim traditions around the Wall grow up, and give rise to the Arab name for the Wall – Al Buraq. Al Buraq was the name of Mohammad’s horse, and the tradition is that this is where it was tethered while Mohammad himself went up on the mountain (Mohammad’s Night Journey).

Contention between Arab and Jews over the rights to the place intensified. Numerous attempts were made by various Jews and Jewish groups to purchase the right to the place, as well as the neighboring Mograbi Quarter, all without success.

In the first days immediately following the conquest of Jerusalem’s Old City during the Six-Day War in 1967, the Israel Army took upon itself to demolish the Mograbi Quarter. The reason for this were the many Israelis who began coming to Jerusalem, for the first time in 19 years, as well as the approaching holiday of Shavuot, one of the holidays Jews have to celebrate in Jerusalem.