What I Learned at the Wall
The Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem is one of the holiest sites in Judaism. It is a retaining wall left over from Herod’s Temple, which was built over 2,000 years ago, and is essentially all we have left of the Temple, the ancient edifice where God’s Presence was said to dwell all those years ago. As such, the Wall is a place of pilgrimage. One can go there anytime of day or night and find people with their foreheads resting against the stone - praying, crying, longing, remembering.
The site itself feels like a sea that many rivers run into. There is a heightened energy, and the prayers from the Muslim worshippers at the Dome of the Rock on the rise above spill over into the courtyard and intermingle with the Hebrew. Caper bushes grow out from the cracks in the wall. One feels simultaneously very exposed in the expanse of the open courtyard, and also strangely safe.
I remember one of the first experiences I had at the Wall many years ago, where I worked my way through the crowd and found a place where I could touch the Wall and rest against it. I remember praying from a very deep, intentioned place, and beginning to lose myself in the prayer and the energy of the site. At that moment, I felt a tap on my shoulder, which I ignored. Whoever it was didn’t give up, though – and the tap grew more insistent. Finally I turned around, and there was a man holding out his hand for spare change. A beggar. I felt a rush of anger, spoke sharply to him – I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I’m sure it was some version of: I’m praying! I’m involved in something holy here where it’s not appropriate to interrupt someone!
When I later relayed this story to a teacher of mine, he gave me a gentle rebuking. Actually, he said, this is exactly the time that the beggar should be asking you for money, and exactly the time that you should be giving him money. Our spiritual life should be intimately intertwined with our work in the world, and with our work helping others. In fact, what is our spiritual life if not the act of reaching out to the one in need next to you? This is the highest form of prayer.
I felt properly rebuked, and his words stayed with me, and come back to me especially at this time of year. In the Hebrew calendar, we are now in the month of Elul, the month preceding Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - the High Holy Days. The High Holy Days deal with the themes of forgiveness, repentance, and return. The month of Elul is set aside as a time of soul-searching, a time to do the inner and outer work we need to do to bring ourselves best we can to this awesome season. And so my memory of the beggar at the Wall is a reminder to me – that the inner and outer work of Elul not only inform and enrich each other, but really make the other possible.
Please consider a donation to the Food and Fuel Fund as part of your practice this fall, whatever your religious tradition. Checks can be sent to Food and Fuel Fund c/o Congregation Beth El at 107 Adams Street, Bennington, VT 05201. May consciousness of our interdependence continue to expand and help guide our work and our prayers as we enter this autumn, into these days of awe.