New grout injected into Western Wall to ensure worshipers’ safety
Image by Getty Images
By David Ian Klein February 23, 2021
The Israel Antiquities Authority began its bi-annual process of inspecting the Western Wall’s stones to make sure the holy site is safe for the throngs of visitors expected to come during the upcoming Passover holiday.
“The wall’s 2,000-year-old stones are subject to natural weathering and we are making sure to strengthen them,” said Yossi Vaknin, the Israel Antiquities Authority’s head conservator of the Western Wall area.
“The Western Wall is a unique ecological environment that supports its own life forms,” Vaknin added. “A lot of plants have taken root in the wall’s stones – particularly thorny capers, golden drops and golden henbanes. Added to this, many birds nest in the wall, including the common swift which arrives every year, ravens, and doves.”
To maintain the structural integrity of the ancient structure, the conservators have catalogued each and every stone in the wall’s 45 layers of stonework, 17 of which are underground.
“We have an ‘identity card’ for each of the hundreds of stones in the plaza and monitor dozens of features. Our most recent survey revealed that it was necessary to treat the ‘peel’, or outer layer, of several stones,” Vahnin explained, specifying that the process is non-destructive to either the stones or the ecosystem of flora and fauna they house.
According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, some 12 million people visit the site in an average year, though that number has dipped significantly in recent months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, some of the busiest times at the wall are Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot – which are known as pilgrimage festivals. In recent years, hundreds of thousands of people visited the wall during those holidays.
In the summer of 2018, a massive boulder dislodged from the wall and fell onto the prayer annex at Robinson’s Arch, which once stood at the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount.
Hello, fellow Forward reader! I’m Joel Brown, a Forward reader and supporter for more than 15 years, and currently the chair of the board of directors.
I’m an avid Forward reader because it ticks so many of my essential boxes: excellent journalism, Jewish focus and diverse viewpoints. In today’s political climate, what I most appreciate is the Forward’s independence — made possible by the generosity of its membership.
The Forward is committed to bringing you unbiased, nuanced Jewish news. From my position as board chair, I see an exciting future as we expand our position as the definitive independent voice of contemporary American Judaism.
That’s why I’m paying it Forward, by matching $36,000 of reader gifts. It’s an investment in the Forward’s newsroom, to continue telling the American Jewish story with truth and independence.
— Joel Brown, Forward board chair
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
