Part of a solidarity blog series for Women of the Wall. Each piece is written by a member of the Rosh Hodesh group of Congregation B'nai Israel.
My first experience seeing the Kotel was after sundown on a Yom Kippur. We were on our way to a Break Fast with a very close friend from home - a kid I grew up with who was like a brother. I was to have been visiting and traveling with him but, after making Aliyah, he went into the army. So when I arrived I went to his apartment and was staying with his roommates.
He came home for the holiday and we went to his friends for Yom Kippur. Of course, I didn't even get to sit with him in Shul either. So after sundown we went to Yerushalayim and the Old City before joining other friends to eat. I actually was on the rooftops looking down, and then we went into the plaza of the Kotel. I'm glad I was with 'family', even though he didn't come in the women's side, but was waiting when I was finished.
Yom Kippur services, Yizkor (memorial), my prayers, and the notes at the wall, and being with a person who is family, was the perfect first time to have this incredible, moving experience. It was still early, and the Kotel was quiet and still, and fairly empty.
No comments:
Post a Comment