Western Wall gets its own inoculation ahead of holidays
Equipped with delicate syringes, engineers work to conserve Judaism s holiest site to ensure safety of worshippers for generations to come without hurting place s unique flora and fauna
Itay Blumenthal |
Published: 02.22.21 , 20:46
Before thousands of worshipers vaccinated against COVID-19 flock to the usually bustling Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation launched efforts to preserve the stones making up the 2,000-year-old holy site injecting its crevices with filler material using syringes.
Officials said they were aiming at preventing the scenes from July 2018 from repeating when a large stone detached from the wall and shattered in the egalitarian prayer area, only a few feet away from one of the women praying there. Luckily, nobody was hurt.
Conservation work carried out at the Western Wall, Jerusalem (Yaniv Berman/Israel Antiquities Authority)
A view of the Western Wall plaza while conservation work is carried out (Yaniv Berman/Israel Antiquities Authority)
Inspectors have carried out a biannual safety inspection and maintenance of the Western Wall, with rabbis overseeing the injection of preservation materials into the corroding stone, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday.
“We have an ‘identity card’ for each of the hundreds of stones in the plaza and monitor dozens of features,” said Yossi Vaknin, head conservator for the IAA at the Western Wall.
“We do not drill into the stone, but delicately inject dissolved stone into the gaps and fissures… It is the best possible method of ‘healing’ the stones and the ultimate defense against weathering for the most important stones in the world,” he said.
Although the coronavirus pandemic has suspended tourism in Israel, it hasn’t stopped thousands of prayers from making their way to the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
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