Removal of Notes from Between the Stones of the Western Wall

In preparation for the upcoming holiday season and the new year, notes are being removed from between the stones of the Western Wall. The process will make room for new notes and the old ones will be buried during the following week of Aseret Yemei Teshuva (the days between Rosh HaShana – the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement).

Every six months, before the High Holidays and before the holiday of Passover, the office of the Rabbi of the Western Wall collects the thousands upon thousands of notes from between the stones of the Wall.  The notes are treated as sacred and are buried on the Mount of Olives.

The removal of the notes is done under the supervision of the rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz. The workers purify themselves, in ritual baths, before the start of the process, and remove the notes with wooden sticks and not metal ones.

The workers are supervised so as to ensure that none of the notes are opened and after the job is done, the rabbi of the Western Wall says a special prayer asking God to fulfill the wishes of all the people who placed their notes between the stones of the Western Wall.