The Wailing Wall also known as the Western Wall is the Israel Prayer Wall found in the old city of Jerusalem. This wall is considered to be very holy and has very special significance to the Jews. They turn to this wall to speak directly to their God. It is believed that prayers said at this wall will definitely be answered. It is a very rich part of history as it is part of the wall that was made to surround the Jewish Temple by Herod the Great. People might wonder why this wall is considered to be holy. The holiness of the wall comes from the fact that it surrounded the Temple Mount as it went round the temple.
For the Jews and Christian pilgrims all over the world who travel to the wall to say their prayers, the wall is very significant and they clearly understand it and its holiness. It is however sad that today things are taking a very different turn. It is sad that we are living in a world today where God is not as revered as He used to be before. It is sad that people no longer sufficiently recognize the power that God holds over all of us as the creator of the universe. It is sad that the world is widely divided along religious lines and everyone is simply choosing to have their own ‘god’ and some people are even considering themselves ‘demigods’.
The Israel Prayer Wall has literally been transformed into a tourist attraction where people go to marvel at the ancient limestone wall built by King Herod. Some even go as far as saying that they do not see what makes the wall holy. You see one important thing that needs to be understood is that it is not possible to ‘see’ what makes the wall holy. You can only understand what makes it holy. Its history makes it holy, the belief of the Jewish people makes it holy, the fact that it surrounded the Temple Mount makes it holy, the fact that people go there to get direct contact with their God makes it holy.
It is time that we go back to understanding that there is a Supreme Being in control of the entire world and simply because you cannot see Him it does not mean that He is not there. You breathe because He exists; the world hangs peacefully in the middle of nowhere and never falls because He is there. This then goes to say that it is fine for people to use the Israel Prayer Wall as a tourist site and have people marvel at it but we should never lose respect for the holiness that it holds.
