Israel Day 1: Jerusalem (The Western Wall)

The primary reason to visit Jerusalem for many tourists is to pray at the Western Wall, or Wailing Wall. It was a moving experience for me, one that I wasn't expecting to be so emotional. Men and women have separate sections to pray, so Kaley and I separated from Zach and Tom. We walked slowly to the Wall, in our modest dress (skirts or pants, shoulders covered), staying quiet to show respect for the holiness of the place.

There were many women there, touching the wall, sitting in chairs, holding children. I had written a little prayer on a piece of paper that I folded up to put in the Wall. As I said my short prayer with my hand touching the coolness of the Wall, I was overwhelmed with the thought that everyone there was talking to God, either in formal prayers or informal ones like mine, in many different languages, with different pictures in their head about what their God looks like. It was really amazing to think about all those prayers, of thanks or hope or forgiveness, being said in a place where they've been said for thousands of years.