The Western Wall (also: Wailing Wall) located in Jerusalem, is considered by both Jews and Muslims as a significant and holy site. The original length is estimated to have been 485m; today what remains is just 60m long and 18m high. Until 1967, a length of only 28m was accessible. The largest stone in the Western Wall is 13m long, 4.5m deep, 4.5m high, and has an estimated weight of more than one million pounds.
The Western Wall would have been built along with the rest of Herod’s expansion of the Temple area, sometime between 37 BCE and 6 CE. The temple along with most of the city of Jerusalem were torn down by Roman commander Titus in 70 CE. For Jews, this section of Western Wall is one of the last portions of the ancient Temple (an outer wall, in fact).
The Western Wall is located in Jerusalem’s Old City, just below the Temple Mount with its Muslim structures. There is a large plaza here open 24 hours a day. In the middle is a fence (mechitza) separating men from women — Orthodox Jewish men don’t believe that it is acceptable to pray right alongside women. The men are given the much larger area for their prayers.
Control of the Western Wall is a contentious issue between Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem. When that portion of Jerusalem was under Arab control, it was difficult for Jews to visit the Western Wall to pray. Now that it is under Israeli control, both Muslims and Jews have access. However, there are many Jews who regard the reconstruction of Solomon’s Temple as a primary goal and this would require the destruction of the mosques above.
Although some might be tempted to dismiss them as “kooks,” they are deadly serious in their plans. Their actual numbers are small but they are backed by widespread sympathy and support in Israeli society. The intransigence of Jewish settlers on Palestinian lands is largely explained by their related belief that all of that land was given to the Jews by God and any attempt to give it up amounts to blasphemy. Most people probably believe that efforts to build the Third Temple, which would require destroying the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa mosque, would precipitate a Holy War, but the True Believers say that it “will bring peace, will bring security, will cure all the ills of society!” That is, after all, what the Messiah is supposed to do.
