Western Wall

Quite an amazing time last evening. A group of us went down to the western (wailing) wall around sundown. It was Friday evening, so the beginning of the Sabbath, which is apparently the one time of the week when there is real celebration there, and the whole place was filled with people and completely abuzz. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take pictures any nearer than the one below, but we went right down into the crowd and into the separate areas for women and men. The men's area was a sea of singing and dancing and general letting down of hair. The women's area was a little less boisterous, but still full of women reading the Hebrew scriptures and singing, praying, dancing. We all managed to get near enough to the wall to touch it but it was quite a press. Atmosphere quite electric. I gather they may have been more celebratory than usual just now as have been marking the 70th anniversary of Israel's nationhood.

On the way back, we stopped at the church of the Holy Sepulchre and tried to get into the tomb area but queues were too long and it was getting near closing time. We waited a bit till 9pm to watch the locking of the doors.Read more