44: Dear God - A Rosh HaShanah Special

Israel Story

Judaism, Palestine, Jewish, Stories, Religion & Spirituality, Israel

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2019

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rosh HaShanah is cleanup time, even at the Kotel. But what happens to the millions of notes tucked away in its cool crevices? And what on earth does that have to do with Leonard Cohen, impromptu sword-fights and carp fish in the bathtub?

For many folks, visiting the Kotel is emotional, meaningful and - more than anything - private. In fact, the single most common experience people have at the Western Wall is inherently personal - putting a kvittel, or note in between its ancient ashlar stones. Whether you're a believer or not, the simple act of writing a small note, folding it up, and shoving it deep into the cracks is the closest we get to talking to God. But what happens to all those requests, prayers and hopes? Where do they go? Is the Kotel just an ever-expanding archive of notes? And, if so, how doesn't it run out of space?

The short answer is the Rosh HaShanah cleanup. But while reporting on this peculiar semi-annual ritual, producer Yoshi Fields discovered that a cleanup can be much more than just a cleanup. It offered him an opportunity to rethink the story he was told about Israel, and evaluate how reality measured up to myth.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	If you've been following our season, you'll know that we just finished our Wall miniseries.
0:08.0	And in it, we devoted two whole episodes to the Kotel, the Western Wall.
0:14.0	Both of them were these dramatic sweeping sagas that span decades and included all kinds of
0:20.5	unlikely twists and turns, public struggles, betrayals, media attention, and questions of national identity.
0:29.0	But for most folks, the Kotel occupies a much more private place.
0:35.2	In fact, the single most common experience
0:38.0	that people have at the hotel is inherently personal,
0:42.4	putting in a kvital or note.
0:46.7	Whether you're a believer or not,
0:48.8	a man, a woman, an Israeli tourist,
0:51.4	basically no matter who you are.
0:54.2	The act of writing a small note, folding it up, and shoving it deep into the cool crevices
1:00.7	of these ancient Ashler stones, it's the closest we get to talking to God.
1:07.0	In the past, if you weren't lucky enough to live in Jerusalem, you had to embark on a serious
1:18.0	pilgrimage to send such a direct missive to God. But today, well, today you barely have to leave the comfort of your own home.
1:27.0	You see, if you send a letter to Israel, address to God, the Postal Service will place it in the cracks of the Western Wall.
1:38.1	I'm not kidding. And wait, you don't want to splurge on an envelope and stamp?
1:45.4	No problem.
1:47.0	You can send a fax, write an email, text, or even tweet at the wall.
1:52.2	And there are organizations that will print out your message and
1:55.3	deliver it directly to God's doorstep. One of them is the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.
2:05.0	In fact, Johanna Bissraur, their media director,
	...

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