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July 27, 2009

Faithful can now ‘tweet’ prayers to Western Wall

by Michele Chabin
Religion News Service

JERUSALEM — People of all faiths can now “tweet” their prayers via Twitter to the Western (Wailing) Wall, one of Judaism’s most sacred sites.

Since the beginning of July, more than 1,000 people have sent messages known as “tweets” to Alon Nir, the Israeli who came up with the Wall Twitter initiative. Nir prints out every message and brings them to the wall, which is a remnant of the biblical Jewish Temple.

“I’m swamped. I can’t keep up with all the tweets,” Nir, a 25-year-old economist, told the Associated Press on July 23. “It started as a hobby, and I can’t keep maintaining it by myself. But I’m determined to not lose even one prayer.”

Placing prayers in the cracks of the Kotel, as the wall is known in Hebrew, is a centuries-old tradition. Many Jews and others believe that their prayers will be answered if they are placed in the narrow cracks between the ancient stones.

Twitter is just many of the ways believers can send their prayers to the Kotel. It is also possible to fax, e-mail and text-message to services based in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem’s main post office also receives thousands of “snail-mailed” prayers every year which are hand-delivered to the wall.

Nil is reportedly seeking a sponsor to help maintain the service.