Why was Jerusalem’s Western Wall built?

The Western Wall (the Kotel) is synonymous with Jerusalem. Every Jew, and gentile tourists also, who visit Jerusalem, head straight for it as the most significant part of the visit.

Some years ago it was rumored that the Wall was weeping, for the tragic situation of Jews in Israel during its ongoing terrorist attacks. Myriads of people flocked to see this miracle, which turned out to be caused by plant resin, a more prosaic explanation for the large damp patch which had mysteriously appeared.

But the Wall is never alone, no matter what hour of the day or night you choose to visit. Someone is praying, someone is rocking back and forth before it in sorrow, someone is writing a petition on a scrap of paper and stuffing it into a crack between the massive stones.

On Tisha Be’av, Jews pray there the whole night, lamenting the destruction of the Temple, of which this is the last remnant. They sit on the ground chanting dirges and Lamentations, and their keening and wailing rise into the black Jerusalem night.

Jews are divided in their feelings for the Wall, like every other topic that comes to mind, because we are a questioning people. There are those who feel a deep emotional experience when they touch its massive stones, identifying with the nation, the heritage and the essence of life. It is for them the place where lament and joy, despair and hope, unite.

Then there is another school of thought that it was built with buckets of blood by a mad pagan king, and although the Second Temple was destroyed 1,944 years ago, it is a flaming symbol of Jewish disunity, hatred and increasingly violent Jew-on-Jew confrontation.

The Western Wall is not the most ancient site (the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Rachel’s Tomb and King David’s grave are even older), but this 2,000-year-old site attracts more attention than any other. Maybe it is because of the belief that the Shechinah (the holy presence of God) has never departed from there, and any petition asked will be granted.

WHY WAS the Kotel ever erected? It could not have been to protect the Temple from enemy attack, because it did not extend all the way around it.

The answer seems to lie in the writings of Josephus Flavius, the historian of the time. In his Antiquities of the Jews, he related that King Agrippa had taken over the Hasmonean palace situated on a hillside in Jerusalem. He added a large room from which he could enjoy the sweeping panorama of the city and the Temple area. The priests became very nervous when they realized that the king spent many hours in the observation room, and they suspected he was spying on them. They went so far as to unsuccessfully request that he cease this practice. Deeply affronted, the Temple management decided to build a very high wall that would obscure Agrippa’s view.

Soon afterward, on the king’s instructions, Porcius Festus, the procurator, arrived with an order to demolish it, as he claimed it had been constructed illegally. The high priest, who at the time was Rabbi Ishmael, begged Agrippa to delay the demolition until he had time to appeal to the emperor in Rome. Because the king was confident he would win, he allowed the appeal, and the high priest traveled to Rome, heading a 12-man delegation.

On arrival, they met Poppaea, the wife of Emperor Nero. She was very sympathetic to Judaism, and promised to appeal to her husband on behalf of Rabbi Ishmael.

Nero agreed that the Kotel should remain intact. However, he decided to remove Rabbi Ishmael from his exalted post and to keep him as a hostage in Rome. The reason is not clear, but he allowed the other 11 to return to Jerusalem, and sent a letter to Agrippa assuring him that he had every confidence in the king of Judea and requesting that he appoint a new high priest, as he had decided that Rabbi Ishmael would not be allowed to return to Jerusalem for his disloyalty.

The Western Wall remained, to the disappointment of Agrippa, and when Jerusalem was devastated some years later, only the Kotel remained, because Nero had ordered his representatives to protect it. When the Jewish state, the Temple and most of the populace were wiped out in the final war, the Western Wall’s survival seemed to be miraculous, and an omen that one day the Temple would be restored.

Six centuries later, the Kotel also survived when hordes of fanatic Muslims again sought to destroy Jerusalem. The only reason that the Western Wall was spared was that they believed that when Muhammad flew to Jerusalem on his white steed, that is where it was tethered.

And so it has survived, despite the number of rulers who rose and fell throughout the past 2,000 years. It is a massive wall encompassing the dreams, prayers and tears of our people. For many, including this writer, the holiness of the site is almost palpable, and there is no synagogue that can equal the spiritual atmosphere of proximity to God’s presence, if you believe that the Shechinah still dwells there.

Today, it is all we have left of the glory of the Temple in Jerusalem, despite the reasons it was built, and it acts as a symbol of hope and a focus of longing for the Jewish people.