The Kotel, commonly known as the Western Wall, is one of the most sacred and recognizable places in Jerusalem. For generations, Jews from around the world have come to the Kotel to pray, reflect, celebrate important moments, and express their spiritual connection to Jerusalem.
Standing beside the ancient stones of the Western Wall creates a direct connection with thousands of years of Jewish history. The Kotel is closely associated with the Temple Mount and with the memory of the First and Second Jerusalem Temples, known in Hebrew as the Beit Hamikdash or Beis Hamikdash.
Today, the Kotel remains a powerful symbol of Jewish faith, continuity, prayer, and the enduring connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem.
What Is the Kotel?
The Kotel is a surviving section of the ancient retaining wall surrounding the Temple Mount platform in Jerusalem.
It is important to distinguish the Western Wall from the ancient Temple building itself. The Kotel was not a wall of the Second Temple sanctuary. Rather, it formed part of the massive retaining structure supporting the expanded Temple Mount complex.
Many of the monumental stones visible today are associated with the expansion of the Temple Mount during the reign of Herod the Great in the late first century BCE.
Because of its proximity to the site where the First and Second Temples once stood, the Kotel became one of the most important places of Jewish prayer and remembrance.
What Does “Kotel” Mean?
The Hebrew word Kotel means “wall.”
The site’s full Hebrew name is HaKotel HaMa’aravi, meaning “the Western Wall.”
In English, it has also historically been called the Wailing Wall, a term connected with Jewish mourning over the destruction of the ancient Temples. Today, “Western Wall” and “Kotel” are generally the preferred names.
For Jewish visitors, however, the Kotel represents much more than an ancient wall. It is a place where history, prayer, memory, and hope come together.
Is the Kotel Part of the Second Temple?
The Kotel is closely connected to the Second Temple period, but it was not part of the Temple building itself.
The Second Temple stood on the Temple Mount above the retaining walls that supported the large platform surrounding the sacred complex.
During the reign of Herod the Great, the Temple Mount was dramatically expanded. Massive retaining walls were constructed around the enlarged platform, and the Western Wall is one surviving section of that enormous engineering project.
The Second Temple was destroyed by Roman forces in 70 CE. Although the Temple itself did not survive, portions of the surrounding retaining walls remained.
You can learn more about the First and Second Temples in our article about the history of the Jerusalem Temples and Beis Hamikdash.
Why Is the Kotel Important in Judaism?
The Kotel’s importance comes largely from its location beside the Temple Mount, the site associated with the ancient Jewish Temples.
For centuries after the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews continued to remember Jerusalem in prayer and religious tradition.
Jewish prayers throughout the world are traditionally directed toward Jerusalem. References to Jerusalem and the Temple appear throughout Jewish liturgy, holidays, mourning customs, weddings, and daily religious life.
The Kotel eventually became the most important accessible place for Jewish prayer near the Temple Mount.
Visitors come to pray individually and as families, while others gather for important occasions such as Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations, holidays, national commemorations, and personal milestones.
Why Do People Put Notes in the Kotel?
One of the best-known traditions associated with the Western Wall is placing small written prayers or messages between the ancient stones.
Visitors write personal prayers, hopes, requests, expressions of gratitude, or messages for loved ones and carefully place the notes into cracks in the Wall.
For many people, this simple act creates a deeply personal connection to Jerusalem and to generations of worshippers who have prayed at the same place.
The tradition is practiced by visitors from Israel and around the world, including Jews as well as people of other faiths who come to experience the spiritual atmosphere of the Western Wall.
The Kotel and Jerusalem After 1967
In June 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israeli forces gained control of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Western Wall.
Access to the Kotel changed dramatically after the war, and the area directly in front of the Wall was developed into the large Western Wall Plaza seen today.
The plaza made it possible for much larger numbers of visitors and worshippers to gather near the Wall.
Since then, the Kotel has become one of Israel’s most visited religious and historic sites and one of the most recognizable symbols of Jerusalem.
Prayer at the Western Wall
The atmosphere at the Kotel changes throughout the day.
Early mornings may bring quiet individual prayer, while afternoons can include families celebrating Bar Mitzvahs and visitors arriving from around the world.
Friday evening brings the beginning of Shabbat, when worshippers gather near the Wall to welcome the Sabbath.
Jewish holidays can bring thousands of people to the plaza, creating scenes filled with prayer, song, movement, and emotion.
At night, Jerusalem’s warm stone and changing light give the Western Wall an entirely different appearance, making the Kotel especially powerful as a subject for artists and photographers.
The Kotel, Jerusalem, and the Beis Hamikdash
The Western Wall is inseparable from the larger story of Jerusalem and the ancient Jewish Temples.
From the Kotel plaza, visitors are standing beside the Temple Mount, where the First and Second Temples once stood.
The memory of the Beis Hamikdash remains deeply connected to Jewish prayer and tradition. This relationship between the surviving stones of the Kotel and the memory of the Jerusalem Temple has inspired countless writers, historians, photographers, and artists.
Alex Levin has explored this connection extensively in his Jerusalem Temple paintings, where scenes of the ancient Temple are often combined with the landscape and spiritual atmosphere of Jerusalem.
The Kotel in Jerusalem Art
For artist Alex Levin, the Kotel is one of the most important subjects in Jerusalem.
His paintings portray the Western Wall during different seasons, hours of the day, and moments of Jewish life. Some works focus on worshippers standing close to the ancient stones, while others show the Wall as part of a wider view of Jerusalem.
Light plays an especially important role in many of these paintings. Sunrise, sunset, golden Jerusalem stone, rain, shadows, and changing skies transform the familiar view of the Kotel into something different in every composition.
Other paintings explore the symbolic relationship between the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, Jewish history, and hopes for the future.
Through these works, the Kotel becomes more than an architectural landmark. It becomes a symbol of prayer, memory, faith, and the continuity of Jewish life.
Explore Kotel Paintings by Alex Levin
Explore Alex Levin’s collection of Kotel paintings, featuring the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Jewish prayer, historic scenes, contemporary interpretations, and views inspired by the spiritual atmosphere of the Holy City.
View Kotel Paintings by Alex Levin
The collection includes artwork available as fine-art reproductions as well as selected original paintings.
You can also explore Alex Levin’s broader collection of Jerusalem paintings, including the Old City, Jerusalem gates, sacred landmarks, streets, and panoramic views of the Holy City.
