Day 8: Western Wall
Our final day in Jerusalem began with a trip to the Western Wall. The 2,000 year old wall is actually just a remnant of a retaining wall built by Herod the Great to create the plaza upon which the 2nd Jewish temple sat before the Romans destroyed it in 70 CE. This wall is therefore the proxy holy place for the Jews until the temple can be restored - which is a problem since the Islamic Dome of the Rock sits on that location.
The Wailing Wall had a reputation for being a place of unspeakable sadness. Perhaps because most of us lacked the same sense of loss or desire for restoration that it symbolized, it didn't quite have that effect on most of us. But it have a quality of holiness and reverence, and an absence of institutional commerce that was a refreshing change from so many of the other holy sites we had visited.
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Breakfast
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Shakshuka
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Hotel room
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Lobby
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Load-out
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Load-out
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Off the bus
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Meeting
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Dung Gate
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Inside of Dung Gate
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Walking to the Western Wall
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Jerusalem Archeological Park
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Jerusalem Archeological Park
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Jerusalem Archeological Park
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Walking to the Western Wal
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Dung Gate
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Western Wall security gate
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Western Wall security gate
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Sign
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1988 reconstruction marker
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Welcome to Western Wall Plaza
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Plaza
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Bridge to Dome of the Rock
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Western Wall Plaza
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Men's aisle to the Western Wall
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Cover your head
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Western Wall
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Western Wall
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Western Wall
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Western Wall
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Women's side
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Cat
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Mesuzza on the Dung Gate
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Back to the bus