What Is the Western Wall?

Located in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem, the Western Wall is one of the most sacred places on earth to the Jewish people. Also referred to as the Kotel in Hebrew, in the 19^th century the Western Wall became known to many non-Jews as the “Wailing Wall,” a name that arose from the centuries-old practice of Jews mourning the destruction of the Holy Temples at the site. Today, “Western Wall” or “Kotel” are preferred. It is a place of prayer, contemplation, and worship for Jews and Christians alike, and one of the most popular destinations for tourists and pilgrims coming to the Holy Land.

The Western Wall in Jerusalem

While many people assume that the Western Wall was once part of the ancient Holy Temple itself, it is the remnant of a retaining wall built by King Herod to support the expansion of the Second Temple complex in the first century. Other than the Temple Mount itself, it is the closest remaining location to the former site of the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary within the Temple that housed the Ark of the Covenant.

For centuries after the destruction of the Second Temple, Jewish access to the Temple Mount was restricted, and the Western Wall became a key place of Jewish prayer and pilgrimage. Wherever the Jewish people were scattered around the world, their hearts and prayers were always directed toward the Western Wall, believed to be the “Gate to Heaven” for all prayers.

In modern times, the Western Wall is not only a site of religious observance but also a focal point for cultural and national gatherings in Israel. It hosts many events, from solemn commemorations to joyous celebrations like Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. The layers of prayers – written on slips of paper, folded, and embedded in the Wall’s crevices – are not just spiritual offerings but also markers of the diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds of its visitors.

The Biblical Significance of the Western Wall and Jerusalem

According to Jewish tradition, Mount Moriah, the location of the First and Second Temples, and home to the Western Wall, is sacred not only because of what has unfolded here throughout history, but because the location was handpicked by God Himself. 

As the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 7:15-16, “Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.”

From the dedication of King Solomon’s Temple (the First Temple) in the 10th century B.C.E., these powerful words teach us that while God surely watches over people no matter where they are, the prayers offered up from Mount Moriah have a special place in His heart. The Second Temple was also built on this site 70 years after the destruction of the First Temple, and it is believed that the future Third Temple will ultimately be built here in Messianic times.

However, according to the Jewish sages, God consecrated this site as holy long before King Solomon built the Temple there. In fact, according to tradition, the entire world was created from “the Foundation Stone” on Mount Moriah, the place where the physical and spiritual realms meet. It is also believed that this was the site of the binding of Isaac, the ultimate story of sacrifice and dedication to God. As God instructed Abraham in Genesis 22:2, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

The History of the Kotel

While the Western Wall has deep spiritual significance, it has also played an important role in the politics of the region throughout history. King David purchased Mount Moriah from the Jebusites and declared Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom 3,000 years ago. His son, King Solomon, built the First Temple on this site, which would serve as the home of the Holy Ark and the gathering place of the entire Jewish nation three times a year on the pilgrimage festivals of Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost), and Sukkot (Feast of the Tabernacles).

The First Temple: Exile After Destruction

When the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E., the Jewish people were sent into exile. However, they always yearned to return to the Holy City. As Psalm 137:1-4 says, “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?”

The Second Temple: A New Era of Jewish Sovereignty

Their prayers were answered decades later, when the Jewish people were given permission by the Persians to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. The Second Temple was later expanded and beautified by King Herod. The responsibility of constructing the Temple was divided among different sectors of society. The building of the Western Wall, an external supporting wall to the larger complex, was, according to Jewish tradition, the responsibility of the poor. They could not afford to hire laborers to build on their behalf, so they poured their blood, sweat, and tears into the construction of this wall, the only one still standing today.

The Western Wall as a Symbol of Hope

Over the course of its long and tumultuous history, Jerusalem has been repeatedly conquered, destroyed, and rebuilt by some of the greatest empires that ever existed, including the Babylonians who destroyed the First Temple and the Romans who destroyed the Second Temple. During these wars, like the Bar Kochba Revolt against the Roman Empire and the Maccabees’ war against the Greek Empire, Jewish soldiers fought for the sacred stones of their Holy Temple until their last breaths.

However, the Jewish sages taught that even when the Temple was destroyed, the Western Wall would always remain standing. Each time the Jewish people were exiled from their land, they cried for Jerusalem and vowed to return, always directing their prayers to the Western Wall, a symbol of hope after destruction and God’s eternal covenant with the Jewish people.

Modern Israel and the Western Wall 

After 2,000 years of exile, the Jewish people finally established the modern state of Israel in 1948, declaring Jerusalem as the capital. However, when the ceasefire lines were drawn following the War of Independence, Jerusalem was divided, and the Jewish people were, once again, unable to reach the Western Wall.

The armistice agreements brokered by the United Nations resulted in the demarcation line known as the Green Line, which bisected Jerusalem and placed the Western Wall under Jordanian control. For the first time in centuries, Jews were again barred from visiting this revered site. This only intensified their longing and spiritual yearning. The Kotel became a poignant symbol of loss and hope, deeply embedded in Jewish consciousness and culture.

The Six-Day War of 1967

In 1967, in what many consider the single greatest miracle since biblical times, Israel was forced into a war that it neither wanted nor thought could be won – at least not without extremely heavy casualties. But miraculously, Israel did win the Six-Day War, and in doing so, liberated Jerusalem, which had been occupied by Jordan for the previous 19 years. The most amazing moments of that war were caught on radio. IDF Commander Motta Gur reached the Temple Mount and spoke those famous words that stirred Jewish hearts around the world: “The Temple Mount is in our hands! The Temple Mount is in our hands!”

For the first time in two millennia, Jewish sovereignty had been reasserted over Judaism’s holiest site.

The Western Wall as The Focal Point of Jewish Prayer

Throughout Jewish history, the Western Wall and the site of the Holy Temples have been the focal point of Jewish prayer, regardless of whether the Temples were standing. Jewish ritual, liturgy, and poetry from every point of history are full of references to Jerusalem.

No matter where they are in the world, three times a day, the Jewish people pray for the return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple. The Jewish people always pray facing Jerusalem, and those located within Jerusalem direct their hearts toward the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.

At many special points throughout the Hebrew calendar, the Jewish people focus on Jerusalem. The Passover seder concludes with a prayer for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the Yom Kippur fast draws to a close with a prayer for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and Tisha B’Av, the fast day of the Ninth of Av, is a full day dedicated to weeping for the destruction of Jerusalem and praying for the coming of the Messiah.

At every Jewish wedding, the groom breaks a glass to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem, reciting one of the most famous verses in Jewish tradition, written by King David: “If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy” (Psalm 137: 5-6).

From biblical times through exile and up until today, Jewish people around the world were willing to sacrifice all they had to travel to the Temple — and today, the Western Wall — to gather, worship, and bask in God’s divine light on earth.

Gentiles and the Western Wall

From biblical times, Jerusalem has held significance not only for the people of Israel, but also for people from other nations who sought the God of Israel. When King Solomon dedicated the First Temple, he specifically prayed that God would hear the prayers of foreigners who came to Jerusalem because they had heard of His great name and mighty works: “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name” (1 Kings 8:41-43).

The prophet Isaiah likewise envisioned a day when people from all nations would come to worship God in Jerusalem: “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7). Today, Christians from around the world visit the Western Wall to pray and experience a place closely connected to the biblical history of Jerusalem and the Holy Temples. And no matter where you are, The Fellowship provides an opportunity to send your prayers to Jerusalem, where they are placed in the Western Wall.

We invite you to send a prayer to the Western Wall.

The Western Wall Today

Today, the Western Wall is still recognized as a place of prayer for people of all faiths. There are many Jewish prayer services held here every day, as well as special holiday prayer services, such as the Priestly Blessing ceremony, when tens of thousands of people gather at the Western Wall during Passover and the Festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot) to be blessed by those who trace their lineage to the tribe of the biblical priests, the tribe of Levi.

There is a custom for a bride and groom to pray at the Western Wall on their wedding day. Many families choose to celebrate their children’s bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies here too, including reading from the Torah and putting on tefillin for the first time.

The Western Wall is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Israel, if not the world, attracting pilgrims who come to pray and experience the palpable spiritual atmosphere of this sacred site. Many write their own private prayers on small notes and place them into the cracks in the ancient stones. Millions of prayers are placed in the Western Wall each year, then they are cleared twice a year and buried in the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem.

The Western Wall has always been and will always be a place of unparalleled spiritual, religious, cultural, and historical importance to the Jewish people, as well as a place for every individual to connect to God.

More Resources About the Western Wall

• Test Your Knowledge on the Western Wall with our quiz!
• See how many words you can find in our Fellowship Word Search.
• Sharpen your skills with our Fellowship Crossword Puzzle on the Western Wall.