Goals:

• The participants will talk about the significance of the Western Wall today.
• The participants will learn about the spiritual and practical connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem, through the Western Wall.
• The participants will connect individually to the value of Jerusalem via the names of the city.

The activity order:

1. Introduction – what does the word “Jerusalem” mean to me?
2. Game- Events that take place at the Western Wall.
3. The significance of the Western Wall.
4. The Western Wall matching game.
5. Discussion.
6. Conclusion – My Jerusalem

Place a piece of paper in the center of the room that shows a picture of the Western Wall. 

Each participant will receive a note with the name of a country. 

The participants will receive a map of the world where the countries they received appear.

Each participant should stand in the room facing Israel, according to the location of the country on the map.

*For a game upgrade, each participant can receive a piece of string that stretches between where he and his country are situated, and where the land of Israel is situated.

After each participant is standing in his place, we can see that a circle of countries surround and face the Western Wall.

Jewish people from all over the world look towards Jerusalem. Throughout the ages, Jewish people have prayed facing Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, no matter where they were in the world. The Western Wall is the surviving section of the Temple complex that unites Jewish people from all over the world.

The leader will split the participants into groups and each group will receive a picture of an important event that takes place regularly at the Western Wall. 

The events are: the Slichot prayers, Bar Mitzvahs, the swearing-in ceremony of new IDF recruits, discussion/song circles at the Western Wall Plaza (e.g. on Tisha’a B’Av and at similar gatherings).

The leader will tell the group that the event took place in a certain place that was specially chosen for this event.

The participants needs to figure out:

• What event
• What is the importance of the event for the character in the picture
• Where the event was
• Why the place was chosen

Afterwards, gather all the participants together again and ask each group to present their answer.

We will find out (if needed, with the help of the leader) that we are talking about the Western Wall Plaza.

The leader will ask the participants what they know about the Western Wall:

• Why do all these events take place specifically at the Western Wall?
• What is the significance of the Western Wall?

After hearing their answers, we will read the explanation card :

 

The Western Wall was a supportive wall of the Temple Mount. It is one of the only remnants from the Temple period in Jerusalem. 

The Temple was a spiritual center for the Jewish people and was destroyed twice. Because of this, even though the Western Wall is not a remnant of the Temple itself, it became a symbol of the Jewish people: just as the Western Wall survived the turmoil of history, so too the Jewish people survives and is eternal.

Therefore, the Western Wall has always been thought of as a central place of utmost importance. Over thousands of years, Jewish people would make their way there to pray.

The meaning of the Wall is slightly different for every person and each one has a different connection to it: a connection to the historical story, the Biblical story, a connection to the place as a place that unifies the Jewish people, a cultural symbol, and more.

It is important to mention that in recent years, despite the complexity, the State of Israel is making an effort to find a way to make the Western Wall accessible to every Jewish person so that everyone will feel comfortable to come and pray there.

We will play a matching game about the Western Wall. 

The cards will display statistics, dates and names of events that are connected to the Western Wall from the past and present: such as:

• How many Bar Mitzvahs happen at the Western Wall, 
• How many participants are there in the mass prayer events (Slichot, the Priestly Blessings),
• Ceremonies that take place there (swearing-in ceremonies, Hannukiyah-lighting ceremony),
• Number of notes placed in the Western Wall every year, 
• How many people visit the Wall on the Three Foot Festivals, 
• The fact that the Wall was a supporting wall of the Temple compound, 
• The liberation of the Western Wall.

The participants need to find the matching cards (the game can be made easier by making the matching cards the same color)

Based on the information that we learned from the game:

• What makes the Western Wall unique?
• Why does the Wall unify so many different kinds of people?
• What is the significance of the Wall nowadays?
• Is the Wall simply a memory of something or does it have another meaning?

Ask if anyone was ever at the Wall, and ask for volunteers to answer:

What did you feel when you were at the Western Wall for the first time?

Spread the pieces of paper on the floor that show the names of Jerusalem in Hebrew and their translation and meaning in the local language.

Go around the circle and ask the participants to choose a name of Jerusalem and share a value or trait from it that they would want to take upon themselves in their personal lives.