The Wailing Wall, also known as
the Kotel, Wailing-place of the Jews, and the Western Wall,
is the holiest place in Jewish tradition, "holiest of holies".
The Wall is a place for people to present prayers directly to God.
Prayers are sometimes written on a slip of paper that is then placed in cracks in the wall.
The Wall was built by King Herod the Great in the first century B.C.
as the retaining wall of the Temple Mount (Mount Moriah) complex
located in the heart of the Old City.
Temple Mount is sacred because Abraham, the first patriarch of the
Hebrew people, is said to have prepared to sacrifice his son, Isaac, in
this place. On this site, King Solomon built the First Temple, which housed
the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred chest holding the tablets inscribed with
the Ten Commandments.
The Babylonians destroyed the First Temple and the
Jews constructed the Second Temple on the same site. Herod the Great later
rebuilt and greatly expanded the Second Temple that became a magnificent
monument to Judaism. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70
AD. Only part of the retaining wall that raised the Temple Mount has
survived as the only remnant of Judaism's most sacred shrine.
Kinkade was not able to set up along the Wailing Wall to paint due to
security and respect for those in prayer. His painting depicts his personal
impressions of his visit to the Wall. The artwork shows only Orthodox men
lined up praying at the wall because Men and women have to pray in separate
areas.
