Yaffa Sha'ah Achat

I wonder if anyone ever took a picture of me at The Wall, without my knowledge. Good chance. I was not only touched by the holiness of the Kotel, but I was also fascinated by the culture. There is a Daf Yomi shiur held at the Kotel every night (a friend of mine thinks that's wrong - too public.) There are the twice weekly bar mitzvah ceremonies. There are the people who ask for money. There are the regulars who pray there three times every day. There are the workers who have to put a thousand siddurim away at the end of Tisha B'Av. There are the people getting people to put on Tefillin. There are the people who are there regularly doing their thing, some quietly and some not so quietly. There are the people who just arrived, sometimes tearing their shirts. There are the long prayers up close. There are the notes written and placed in the cracks. There are the cardboard kippas that fly off just as the friend is about to snap the picture, so that I magine many people have photos of themselves in front of the Wall with one hand on their heads. There are the army ceremonies. And there are weddings. There are tour guides and their groups. There are the people that say Tikkun Chatzot every night. There are the guards, some of whom are friendly and will offer you pizza late at night. There are the people sitting, taking it all in.