We moved to Northern Israel from Jerusalem about 2 1/2 years ago, and the 3 youngest in our family had not seen the kotel since then, and certainly had no memories of this Holy place. Our neighbors were making a wedding for their oldest son in Jerusalem, something we couldn’t miss, so we used this opportunity to make the trip into a one-night mini vacation.
The Kotel in June was packed with visitors of all kinds, Israeli soldiers, school children on their year-end field trip, tourists from all over the world and us!
I taught my seven year old daughter about the power of davening at the Kotel, about what to ask for…..
Like generations and generations of women before us, we are but a link in this holy tradition. What greater gift can a mother give her daughter? I think she got it:
Here are some typical yet beautiful images from the Kotel:
Looking up at the plants that grow from between the stones.
A close-up of the notes of request left by visitors— crammed into every possible crevice.
Jewish women of all kinds pray with heartfelt sentiment. Truly something very special.
Not a typical photo, but I’ve been telling my children a story about a bird that visits the kotel, so I thought I’d take some photos for the story…..I was a bit embarrassed to do this, and wondered if wasn’t so respectful. But my intentions are to instill in my children’s hearts a love for the holy place, so I hope it’s okay!
We took a walk up into the Old City and I spotted this gorgeous Jacaranda tree in bloom.
Now that we are home and I am posting these photos, I have to admit that traveling with small children isn’t the easiest thing to do! But I am happy to say now that we have finally visited the Kotel we will have something to talk about for weeks to come. And if I could just get some of these photos printed onto real paper that would be really good too!
Enjoy traveling with your children this summer —whether your outings are local or to far-away places.
The main thing is not to plan too much for little children and to always be prepared with hats, sunscreen, water, sandwiches and some sugar-free candies to use as bribes when they have exhaustion induced tantrums in which they lie down on the hot dirty sidewalk. (Take it in stride it happens to the best of us!)
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