Shalom everyone!

I was pleasantly surprised to find an amazing picture on Wikipedia. It’s a picture of the Kotel (the Western-Wall) taken in 1870! 140 years ago! Imagine that!

Here is the photo (since so much time has passed, it is in the public domain.

(Click to enlarge)

(Source)

I can day dream for a long time while looking at this picture, trying to imagine all the changes that happened in the world in the 140 years since this picture was taken, and all the changes in the near proximity of the Kotel.

One thing that did not change, and always intrigues me, is the shrubs growing and blooming from the crevices. For at least 140 years they’ve been there – never died, never changed. Here is a picture I took at the Kotel myself not long ago (click to enlarge):

Take your time and let your imagination carry you when you think about the changes the Kotel has “seen” in all these years, and how the shrubs remained every-green.

Blessing from the Holy Land,

Yours,

Alon

Shalom all!

Yesterday, Friday the 2nd of October, I was in Jerusalem with my childhood friend Dan, who is currently visiting Israel. We toured Jerusalem and the first stop was obviously the Kotel (the Western Wall). We took a lot of pictures and videos, some of them very special and exciting; I will sort the files soon and share them with you on this site. I also have a couple of surprises I think you’ll like 🙂 . In the meantime, until I have everything sorted, I’ll share just two photos with you.

As you may remember, the first time I took prayers to the Kotel, I carried them in this box:

Now, yesterday, even though each prayer was made from a smaller piece of paper, I needed a slightly bigger box. Observe:

Would anyone like to guess how many prayers are in the box? The closest guesser will win a special prize. 🙂

As promised, I’ll upload more pictures and videos soon.

Take care and have a good weekend!

Alon

UPDATE Oct. 5th: OK, it’s time to reveal the actual number of prayers + announce the winners. I must say I enjoyed the past two days. This game was fun and I hope to find more of these kinds of joyful games. Are you ready? (drum roll please)

First, the people who guessed the closest are:

John Henry Bourke who guessed 3,876 prayers.

Karaleigh Salmi guessed 3,789 prayers (she also guessed one million, by the way).

Denise Lange with a good guess of 3,850 prayers.

George Koprowicz who guessed 3,840 prayers.

And the actual number is… 3,812 prayers!

So, congratulations to the four of you who were the closest, and a special appreciation to George who was off by just 18!

You are each awarded one cookie, reedmable only in Israel. 🙂 Actually, email me to discuss a somewhat better (yet still modest) prize.

Thank you all for participating, and feel free to suggest more ideas for games.

Best from the Holy Land,

Alon