The Wailing Wall

Photo courtesy of FreeStockPhotos.com.

Today's picture features the holiest of all Jewish shrines as well as the most hotly contested part of the city of Jerusalem: The Wailing Wall (also known as the Western Wall).

In the year 20 BC, Herod constructed the Temple Mount (the most sacred building in Judaism), and what we now know as the Wailing Wall is actually the ruins of the western retaining wall that supported one side of the structure.

For quite some time after the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, Jews were only allowed to visit the site to weep over the ruins one day a year on the anniversary of the temple's destruction. This led to the wall acquiring the moniker "The Wailing Wall".

Today, the Wailing Wall is still the holiest shrine in the world for Jews...but it is also the third holiest shrine for Muslims. This seemingly insurmountable conflict has had the Israelis and Palestinians feuding over ownership of the wall for many years.

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