The new “Western Wall Heritage Center” was dedicated last Tuesday in a ceremony attended by Israel’s President Isaac Herzog.
The Western Wall Heritage Center building, built by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation with the assistance of various government offices, will serve as an educational center for individuals and groups coming to the Kotel. The dedicated center will soon accept tour groups and classroom trips, as the center’s facilities include classrooms for students and soldiers.
Herzog was joined by other notable attendees, including the rabbi of the Western Wall and holy sites, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Mr. Mordechai (Suli) Eliav, representatives of the donor’s family and trustees of the family foundation and the Zuckerman Institute, including Mort Zuckerman’s nephews, Eric and James Gertler.
"The sanctity and centrality of the Kotel, the beating heart of the Jewish people, are above any dispute and an esteemed place to preserve it,” said Herzog. May we never reach that place of baseless hatred, may we never reach a point of destruction. We are obligated to always acknowledge that every single individual must feel satisfied, loved and accepted at the Kotel," he added.
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation is the governmental administrative body of all matters concerning the Western Wall historical monument in Jerusalem. The Western Wall is one of the sole surviving parts of the Second Jewish Temple and among Israel’s most visited heritage sites.
“When we dig in the soil of Jerusalem, we uncover the most amazing treasures. We uncover the chain of generations, our very roots. The stones we discover are the most precious stones in the world. They are the stones of identity, of belonging, and of Israel's heritage,” concluded Rabinowitz, the Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites.