Western Wall prayer notes removed ahead of Rosh Hashanah

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation has completed the annual removal of tens of thousands of prayer notes from the crevices of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This procedure is conducted twice a year, ahead of the Jewish holidays of Pesach and Rosh Hashanah, to make room for new messages from pilgrims and tourists.

Supervised by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the operation followed Jewish law, utilizing gloves and disposable wooden tools to maintain the sanctity of the site and respect the authors of the notes. The collected messages, which originated from 140 countries, will be transported to the Mount of Olives to be buried in a genizah, a sacred repository for religious documents and texts containing the name of God.

The foundation noted that the notes were sent by a diverse global population, including world leaders, citizens, and tourists. Messages were received from both friendly nations and countries considered hostile to Israel, with many of the latter containing prayers for peace and reconciliation.