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Talk:Placing notes in the Western Wall

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Material at Western Wall

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Placing of notes

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Main article: Note placement in the Western Wall
Slips of paper containing prayers in the cracks of the Wall

There is a much publicised practice of placing slips of paper containing written prayers (see kvitel) into the crevices of the Wall. The earliest account of this practice is recounted by the Munkatcher Rebbe and is recorded in Sefer Tamei Ha-minhagim U’mekorei Ha-dinim. The story involves Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar, the Ohr Hachaim, in Morocco. A certain man came to him in great distress after he had become so destitute that he couldn’t afford to buy food for his family. The Ohr Hachaim wrote him an amulet in Ashuri script on parchment and instructed the man to place it between the holy stones of the Western Wall.[1] Another story is told involving a student of the Ohr Hachaim who planned to emigrate to Jerusalem from Morocco. The Ohr Hachaim instructed him to place a note in the Wall upon his arrival. The pupil, who later became known famously as the Chida, attributed his personal success to the note, which read, “Dear God, please let my student Azulai become successful in Israel”.[2]

More recently, the Israeli Telephone Company has established a fax service to the Western Wall where petitioners can send notes to be placed in the Wall.[3] This opportunity is now offered via a number of charitable websites. On March 26, 2000, Pope John Paul II placed a letter in the wall[4] and in 2005, the Israel Postal Authority issued a stamp commemorating the event.[5] In July 2008, U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama placed a written prayer in the wall, which was later reportedly removed and published in the Maariv newspaper.[6] In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI also deposited a message in the wall and also released its contents to the media.[7]

More than a million notes are placed each year. The notes are collected twice a year and buried on the Mount of Olives.[8]

References

  1. ^ Sperling, Avraham Yitzchak (1999). Sefer Tamei Ha-minhagim U’mekorei Ha-dinim; Inyanei Hilula D’Rashbi, p. 270. Jerusalem: Shai Le-morah Publishing.
  2. ^ Katz, Lisa. "'What is the origin, process and reason behind placing notes in the Western Wall?". about.com. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
  3. ^ Starr, Joyce Shira (1995). Faxes and Email to God: At the Western Wall of Jerusalem. iUniverse. ISBN 978-1893652378. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
  4. ^ "Letter Placed by Pope John Paul II at the Western Wall". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel). Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  5. ^ "Israel Philatelic Federation. Stamps Catalogue: Series Name: Pope John Paul II". Israelphilately.org.il. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  6. ^ McGirk, Tim (2008-07-25). "Obama's Private Prayer Leaked". Time Magazine.
  7. ^ "Pope places note of peace in Jerusalem's Western Wall". Cbc.ca. 2009-05-12. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  8. ^ "Obama's Private Prayer 'Leaked'". time.com. 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2009-08-19.

Material merged

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I just merged the material from Western Wall and Kvitel. I also made the title of the page more active. Yoninah (talk) 22:50, 5 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Something not quite right here

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Please consider this text:

The practice of placing prayer notes into the cracks and crevices of the Western Wall began over 300 years ago. The earliest account of this practice is recounted by the Munkatcher Rebbe and is recorded in Sefer Ta'amei Ha-minhagim U’mekorei Ha-dinim. The story involves Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar, the Ohr Hachaim, in Morocco. A certain man came to him in great distress after he had become so destitute that he couldn’t afford to buy food for his family. The Ohr Hachaim wrote him an amulet in Ashuri script on parchment and instructed the man to place it between the stones of the Western Wall.

Ohr Hachaim lived 1696–1743, so for this story to justify "over 300 years ago" he would have been less than 20 years old (or in fact less than 14 years old since this phrase was added to the article in 2010). It also doesn't make sense: how could a Moroccan man in Morocco too poor to feed his family travel to Jerusalem to insert a note in the wall? It would make far more sense if the event occurred after Ohr Hachaim moved to Jerusalem in 1742. I have no access to the Hebrew text given as a source; if you have access please check this. Zerotalk 23:57, 2 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I added the original text to Western Wall on 05-Dec-07:
The earliest recorded account of this phenomena is recounted by the Munkatcher Rebbe and is recorded by Avraham Yitzchak Sperling in his Sefer Tamei Ha-minhagim U’mekorei Ha-dinim. The story involves Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar who died in Jerusalm in 1743. A certain man came to him in great distress after he had become so destitute that he couldn’t afford to buy food for his family. The Ohr Ha-chaim wrote him an amulet in Ashuri script on parchment and instructed the man to place it between the holy stones of the Western Wall.
The source does not mention Morocco, (page 283) - neither did my original addition. It seems the original source is actually Ma'asos Yerushalayim (Munkatch, 1931) and it appears as a note to the 1957 edition of Sperling's work. Hence the source needs to be changed. Chesdovi (talk) 18:48, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

It seems there is also an issue with the next part.

A similar story is told involving a student of his who planned to emigrate to Jerusalem from Morocco. The Ohr Hachaim told him to place a note in the Wall upon his arrival. The pupil was Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai and he attributed his personal success to the note which read, "Dear God, please let my student Azulai become successful in Israel".

Chida was born in Jerusalem, not in Morocco! The cited source does not contain the story, but I have traced it to here. I think this story needs more verification before it is replicated here. Chesdovi (talk) 00:17, 10 February 2016 (UTC) Chesdovi (talk) 00:17, 10 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia as source?

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I am not sure, but it seems that http://judaism.about.com/od/prayersworshiprituals/f/kotelnotes.htm is citing Wikipedia and is not an independent source. Chesdovi (talk) 21:57, 10 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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