The Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall, is the holiest site in Judaism. It is a remnant of the second Jewish temple and Jews pray and place petitions in the wall's cracks. The Wall is always crowded with Jewish men and women praying separately. Important life events like bar mitzvahs and weddings are also celebrated there. Yad Vashem is a Holocaust memorial and museum located in Jerusalem that commemorates the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. It works to perpetuate Holocaust memory and features exhibits documenting the Nazi rise and Jewish experiences.
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The western wall and Yad Vashem as pilgrimage site
2. The Western (wailing) Wall
Though the temple
was rebuilt, the
religion became more
and more what it
ultimately would
become, a religion of
synagogues, where
worship consisted of
study of Scriptures
without sacrifices.
3. Formerly known as the `Wailing Wall` - a
reference to Jews lamenting the loss of the
Second Temple - is the holiest site in Judaism.
To Jews around the world it is a link with the
heritage of a people whose recorded
history stretches back to the promised
land more than 4,000 years ago.
The Wailing Wall
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4. All Jews aspire to visit the Wailing Wall in the belief
that it is the one place where God will listen to
their supplications.
Jews believe the `gateway to heaven` lies beneath
the ancient stones.
Jewish men and women, separated by a barrier,
are to be seen praying along the wall at every
hour of the day.
As directed in the talmud they stand close to and
facing the wall as though they were standing in
front of the Kodesh Hakadosim, Holy of Holies in
the sanctuary itself
The site
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5. Devotions at the wall have taken place
continuously (rabbinic belief that ‘the Divine
Presence` never departs from the Western Wall, i.e
the shekhinah of God).
It is a tradition for worshippers to wedge pieces of
paper with written supplications into the crevices
between the stones and
all along the length of the wall people are to be
seen pushing petitions into the cracks beseeching
the Divine to bestow on them good fortune, a
happy marriage and healthy children
What happens there
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6. What happens there
• Bar Mitzvah ceremonies
celebrating a boy`s maturity are
held there
• while newly married couples, still
wearing their wedding finery,
arrive to say special prayers for
their future together.samudzudza@gmail.com
7. As the Jewish people’s living memorial to the Holocaust, Yad Vashem safeguards the
memory of the past and imparts its meaning for future generations.
Can be found on the outskirts of Jerusalem and it
means 'lasting memorial
It is a memorial to the Jews who were murdered during the
holocaust. Between 1933 and 1945 six million Jews were
murdered by the Nazis.
The Authority also commemorates the heroism and fortitude of the Jewish partisans
and the fighters in the Ghetto revolts
Established in 1953, as the world center for documentation, research, education and
commemoration of the Holocaust
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Yad Vashem
8. Everyone should visit the memorial so that
the world never forgets. The task of Yad Vashem
is to perpetuate the memory and lessons of the
Holocaust for future generations
The museum combines contemporary visual and
textural documentation with artifacts and brief
written explanations, to tell the story of the
Holocaust from the Nazis’ rise to power through the
first post-war years. It is situated in Jerusalem.
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The site
9. The Hall of Remembrance: - A solemn tent-like structure that
allows visitors to pay their respects to the memories of the
martyred dead. Memorial ceremonies are held here.
The approach to the Hall of Remembrance is lined with trees planted in
honor of non-Jewish men and women
The Hall of Names: - It houses pages of testimony
commemorating the names and biographical details of Jews
who perished during the Holocaust. Martyred dead are
remembered not as anonymous numbers but as individual
human beings.
Memorial to the deportees: - It is a monument to the millions of
Jews herded onto cattle-cars and transported from all over
Europe to the extermination camps. An original cattle-car
appropriated by the German Railway authorities and given to Yad
Vashem by the Polish authorities stands at the centre of the
memorial site. It symbolizes the journey towards annihilation and
oblivion.
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The site cont.
10. The Valley of the Communities is a 2.5 acre monument that was
dug out from the natural bedrock.
Engraved on the massive stone walls of the memorial are the
names of over five thousand Jewish communities that were
destroyed and of the few that suffered but survived in the
shadow of the Holocaust.
The Memorial to the Deportees is an original cattle-car which
was used to transport thousands of Jews to the death camps.
Nearly 100,000 photographs, film footage and the videotaped
testimonies of survivors. The library contains more than
80,000 titles, thousands of periodicals, and a large number of
rare documents.
Garden with sculpture of the events of the holocaust.
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The site cont.