The Wall in Jerusalem

Done at the Western Wall from the artist's trip to Israel in 2003.

“NO ONE GOES TO JERUSALEM who is not overcome by the site of the Wall. It is the holiest shrine of the Jewish world and revered as the last relic of the last Temple. Here only a segment of the retaining wall remains. We went to the Wall in the evening when the moon was full and the golden lights of the Wall and the city lit up all of Jerusalem with men in their shawls and black hats praying at the wall, the women praying and leaving notes in the cracks of the wall. But it was Monday morning, the morning of the Bar Mitzvah’s, that left an impression on me. The young boys carrying the Torah entering the gate reciting the words from the Lord as they had for generations. Older men, younger friends and brothers with the black straps encircling their arms. The Phylacteries on men’s foreheads reminding them of the Law as the Lord had commanded in the Old Testament.

On Monday morning we were in a long line waiting for the security check of purses and cameras. All of a sudden a group of Israeli young soldiers were exiting the Wall when spontaneous clapping and a centuries-old Jewish song filled the air. The soldiers, both young men and women blushed, but with pride for keeping Israel free. Today it is simply called the Western Wall, a place of joy for God’s chosen people. General Moshe Dayan declared on June 7, 1967, “We have returned to our holy places, never to part from them again.”

- Miriam McClung, Artist