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As the only earthly remnant of the sprawling Temple complex that was once the geographical center of Jerusalem and the spiritual center of the Jewish people, the Western Wall (HaKotel HaMa'aravi) is monumentally significant to the Jewish faith and the Jewish soul, holding within its mighty stones the still-aching memory of a shattered past and the whispered promise of a future redemption. All roads in Jerusalem seem to lead inexorably to the wall at its heart; few Jews can touch its stones the first time without tears springing unbidden to their eyes.

For all its weighty symbolism, though, the Wall itself is not per se a holy site; it derives its measure of sanctity from proximity, not intrinsic holiness. The western outer retaining wall of Herod the Great's ambitious expansion of the Second Temple compound, it was all that remained standing when the Romans put the Temple to the torch in 70 CE in retaliation for the Jews' rebellion against their authority. The Temple Mount itself, centered on the Holy of Holies, the foundation stone of creation, is the actual holy site, but Jews are forbidden from treading there. Most Jewish authorities contend that any access to the Temple Mount itself is forbidden by Jews, so as to avoid inadvertently walking on holy ground; a vocal minority claims that Jews can walk and pray on certain safe areas of the Mount, but the matter is essentially moot at the moment, as the conservative Islamic Waqf in control of the Mount forbids Jewish prayer. The Wall is as close as most Jews can ever get to the Mount itself.

The capture of the Old City and thus the Western Wall from Jordan in 1967 marked the first time the Wall had been in Jewish hands since the Great Jewish Revolt of the first century, although it had for ages been a pilgrimage destination for Jews (the bitter laments of Jewish pilgrims at the Wall gave it is now-discouraged nickname the "Wailing Wall"). The new Israeli authorities cleared away the houses that were built against the Wall and built a broad plaza to accommodate the throng of worshipers, both pious and secular.

The plaza today is never empty, even in the weest hours of the morning. Minyans are organized at prayer times, and visitors chant Psalms and stuff private notes to God in the Wall's cracks. Bar mitzvah ceremonies dominate on Mondays and Thursdays, the proud families hailing from all corners of the Jewish diaspora as well as the homeland. Soldiers are sworn into the army in solemn nighttime ceremonies. Official public ceremonies in the plaza mark holidays and days of mourning. During Judaism's three pilgrim festivals - Passover, Shauvot and Sukkot - tens of thousands of Jews squeeze into the plaza for communal worship ceremonies and priestly blessings of unprecedented scale, providing ample testimony that the Wall remains the heart of Judaism in Jerusalem and the entire world.

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