A Wake-Up Call: Rethinking the Western Wall

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/431996

For many years, it has become customary to sound the shofar every day during the month of Elul, at the conclusion of the morning prayers. This custom has become firmly established throughout the Jewish world and is practiced by both Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews.

The Western Wall built by Herod, however, is fundamentally different. It was not constructed by virtue of a Divine command. Herod was one of the most cruel kings in Jewish history and was responsible for the torture and killing of many of the Sages of Israel.

The Gemara (Bava Batra 3b) relates that Herod was originally a slave in the household of the Hasmoneans. He rebelled against his masters, murdered the entire Hasmonean family, and left only one young woman alive, hoping to marry her and thereby lend legitimacy to his ruleThe evidence presented here therefore indicates that the wall before which we pray is not the original western wall of the Temple Mount. The sanctity of this wall does not derive from a Divine command, but solely from the work of human hands-“the work of human hands, wood and stone." The true sanctity, Ritmeyer says, lies beyond it, slightly farther to the west-the original western wall of the Temple Mount, which was sanctified by virtue of the command of the Holy One, blessed be He.

The evidence presented here therefore indicates that the wall before which we pray is not the original western wall of the Temple Mount. The sanctity of this wall does not derive from a Divine command, but solely from the work of human hands-“the work of human hands, wood and stone." The true sanctity, Ritmeyer says, lies beyond it, slightly farther to the west-the original western wall of the Temple Mount, which was sanctified by virtue of the command of the Holy One, blessed be He.