- make this is a favorite!
0 other people called this a favorite
Echoes across a people
Shalom
Last week I attended Selichot (or Slichot) ceremonies at the Kotel (Western or Wailing Wall) Judaism's holiest site. The prayers, which occurs just after midnight in the days leading to Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is just one of many ways Jews ask God for forgiveness for all sins during the past year.
Jews from all over Israel, and the worlds, gather at the Kotel for Selichot. Tour guides lead groups through the maze like Old City, stopping briefly here and there to explain the significance of a building or artifact. Women and men descend to the Kotel, the only remaining wall of the outer courtyard of The Second Temple destroyed nearly two thousand years ago. The old, hungry, and disabled ask for charity. Rabbis hold lively debates with their students and any passerby. Students accompany their teachers in prayer. Individuals work their way through the crowd to get next to the wall so they can make their own private prayers. And minyans, groups of 10 or more men sprout up everywhere to complete the full Selichot prayers.
A shofar, made from a ram's horn, is sounded. One of its many purposes is to act as call to God to hear the pleas of the prayers and bestow forgiveness. Its sound echoes across a wall, a city, and a people.
Search This Blog
Subscribe to This Blog's Feed
RSSMonthly Archives
View AllTopics
Recent Comments
Really like the photo of the narrow gray stone walkway with the religious Jew in black--contrasted with the bright colors of the mural on the wall. Have never been to ...
Wow! Great photographic compositions! Excellent content, lighting, and captures the mood of the situation! We;; Done!
Comments
Post a Comment