(Communicated by the Western Wall Rabbi's Bureau)

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites of Israel, on the occasion of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Western Wall today, 12 May 2009, said:

"The stones of the Western Wall bear witness to the glorious past of the Jewish people, instilling in it the strength to withstand hardships and persecution. Just as these stones have survived difficult events, the Jewish people has survived persecutions and tortures, remaining a moral and an eternal people, undefeated by anyone. It is the duty of every person of faith to ensure that no harm comes to the Jewish people."

The Pope stated that he came (to the Western Wall) to pray to God for peace and quiet in the Middle East.

The Western Wall rabbi recited verses from the prayer of King Solomon at the dedication of the Temple. In his prayer, King Solomon asks that every supplication and prayer, whether made by a Jew or a non-Jew, be accepted in the Holy Temple.

Rabbi Rabinowitz also quoted from the prophet Micah (4:5) "For let all the peoples walk each one in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever."

In conclusion, the rabbi quoted from the prophet Isaiah, who envisioned the End of Days in which the Jewish people would return to the holy mountain and rejoice in its house of prayer: "For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (56:7). "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, Desolation nor destruction within thy borders; I will make thy officers peace" (60:17-18). Rabbi Rabinowitz also evoked Isaiah's words regarding Jerusalem: "For Zion's sake will I not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest… And give Him no rest, Till He establish, And till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth" (62:1;7).


Verses from the Holy Bible
Visit of the Pope - the 33rd day of Sefirat HaOmer (Counting of the Sheaf)

In Kings 1, Chapter 8, one can find the prayer of King Solomon at the time the Holy Temple was built:

Chapter 8

22: And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven. 
23: And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart.
28: Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day.
29: That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.
30: And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.
38: What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house.
39: Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men.
41: Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake.
42: For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm; when he shall come and pray toward this house.
43: Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.

The Holy One, blessed be He, responds thus in Chapter 9

3: And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

This is the power of this holy place wherefrom the Divine Spirit never departs.

And thus it is said in the book of Micah (chapter 4), about life in harmony among different nations and faiths:

3: And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
4: But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
5: For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

I conclude the sayings of the prophets with the prophet Isaiah's words foretelling the end of days:

Chapter 56

7: Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

Chapter 60

17: For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.
18: Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.

Chapter 62

1: For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
2: And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
6: I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence.
7: And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

May it be Thy Will that the words of the prophets be fulfilled in us and that the land shall dwell safely.