Jakarta –
The Wailing Wall is a sacred sacred building for the Jewish people. The location of this wall is located in Jerusalem, precisely near the Al Aqsa Mosque area.
To enter the Wailing Wall, visitors must enter through the Al Aqsa Mosque area. Along the alley leading to the Al Aqsa Mosque, visitors can see Jews praying with their hands touching the wall of the Good Wall.
Curious about the history and interesting facts about the Wailing Wall? Read more below.
History of the Wailing Wall
The Wailing Wall is considered a sacred building because it is the remains of the wall of the Jerusalem Temple built by the King of Israel, Herod.
Reported by the britannica.com site, before being known as the Wailing Wall, this building was originally part of the Temple Mount. The temple is the building where the Ark of the Covenant contains the 10 commandments of God in Judaism.
Unfortunately, this temple building later suffered destruction due to the rebellion against the Roman empire. The war destroyed many buildings including the Temple building.
The remains of this temple building became known as the Wailing Wall. Initially, this wall was known as the Western Wall, but because the Jews often prayed and mourned their sins in the building, this building was eventually known as the Wailing Wall.
The Wailing Wall is always busy surrounded by many people, usually the Jews will pray while tucking a paper on the wall of the Wailing Wall. This is because it is believed that prayers written on paper and tucked into the Wailing Wall will come true.
The building is divided into two parts, namely the left for men and the right for women. Between the two parts of the building is separated by a dividing wall. This is because the Jews believe that men and women cannot pray together.
When visiting the Wailing Wall, visitors will usually be asked to wash their hands and purify themselves with the water provided. In addition, male visitors will also be given a small cap to cover their heads. This cap does not need to be returned and visitors can take it home after they finish praying.
Interesting Facts About the Wailing Wall
After knowing the history of the Wailing Wall, consider the following information about interesting facts about the Wailing Wall that many people don’t know.
1. The height of the Wailing Wall
Reported by the site embassies.gov.il, the Wailing Wall originally had a height of about 60 meters or 200 feet. However, after experiencing the destruction, the current height of the Wailing Wall is only 19 meters or about 60 feet, aka one third of the original building height.
2. There are more than one million sheets of paper on the Wailing Wall
The Wailing Wall or Western Wall is a place of prayer and pilgrimage for Jews. Every year visitors to the Wailing Wall leave papers filled with handwritten prayers placed between the cracks of the building.
There are more than one million pieces of paper containing prayers to God and personal wishes tucked between the stones of the Wailing Wall each year.
3. Most of the Buildings Are Underground
Another interesting fact about the Wailing Wall is that most of it is underground. The Wailing Wall is made of limestone which consists of 45 rows. A total of 28 rows of building stones are above ground and 17 other stones are underground.
The largest stone on the Wailing Wall is about 13.41 meters long and weighs 570 tonnes.
So, that’s a brief history of information and interesting facts from the Wailing Wall to increase knowledge about sacred and historic buildings in the world. I hope this information is helpful.
Watch Video “The atmosphere of breaking the fast on the first day at Al Aqsa Mosque“
(inf/inf)
