messiah at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem

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I've been to a few wild and crazy places in my life, and seen some wild and crazy things, but never, NEVER, have I been to a more wild and crazy place---ever--than the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem in March, 2007. And that was even without a president or presidential candidate being along. (Obama, incidentally, in the above video, was not at The Wailing Wall, but rather some underground wall, probably in the basement and on the west side of the Temple Mount where his safety could be better secured.)

Being there last year was like being in a global opera, where every one comes to bear their hopes, griefs and pent up needs of a lifetime. After going through major security screening to put to shame any airport I've ever been through with soldiers and machine guns everywhere, men and women are separated and then able proceed to their designated wailing section. The emotional emoting---yes, it's redundant---is like a giant psychodrama, opera, or therapy session where everyone can let it all hang out. Screaming, wailing, shouting, praying, crying, dancing, singing, chanting are all part of the almost unbelievable carnival atmosphere. You work your way up to the actual wall after cuing up with hundreds, maybe thousands from the back. Then, when you finally get to the wall, you get to stuff your little piece of paper with all your family and loved one's names or requests on it. There is barely a place to stuff your little paper, but somehow you find something and shove it in, though is often falls to the ground. It's okay, beggers---and at this point we're all beggers in a sea of humanity---can't be choosers.

As the mass of female humanity presses from behind, you say your little prayers, do whatever emotional things you decide to do---I didn't do much but observe, since when I'm in culture shock I get very, very quiet----and then attempt to weave backwards out of the way. There is a curtain separating women from the men so you can't see what is happening on their side, but you can certainly hear everything and let your mind conjure up whatever it will.

If you don't think Jerusalem is the microcosmic center of the world, I challenge you to go there and to the Wailing Wall and Temple Mount, complete with Muslim chanting screaming through loudspeakders all over the city, and then tell me that again.