Ahead of Passover, which this year begins the evening of March 27, workers at the Western Wall on Tuesday conducted a biannual clear-out of all the notes stuck between the stones in the past six months.
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The notes are traditionally collected twice a year – before Passover and before Rosh Hashana. Mindful of public health regulations, workers wore gloves, masks, and used disposable wooden sticks to remove the notes. The notes will be collected and buried on the Mount of Olives, along with holy materials deemed too worn out to use.
Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinowitz oversaw the ceremonial clear-out and recited a prayer for the burial of the notes.
Video: Reuters
According to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, the COVID pandemic and the unique difficulties it created for Jewish communities has led to a spike in the number of notes e-mailed to the Wall by Jews all over the world. Since Passover 2020, over 71,000 such notes have been emailed to the foundation, many times more than it saw prior to COVID.
The countries that sent the most notes were the US, Brazil, France, Canada, Germany, Spain, Poland, Argentina, and Mexico, as well as the Lapland region of Finland.
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation also said it was preparing for Passover prayers, including the traditional Priestly Blessing, which traditionally draws tens of thousands of worshippers. Last year, only 10 kohanim were allowed at the Western Wall. This year, the prayers will be held in accordance with Health Ministry instruction, which as of March 17 allow for public prayer in capsules. The prayers will be live-streamed for the sake of those who are not able to participate.
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