From Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Qatar, Egypt and beyond… emails with wishes for peace have arrived at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Among the tens of thousands of prayer slips received over the past year, messages from people in Iran, Yemen, Qatar, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sudan, Jordan, Egypt, and other countries stand out. These messages contained heartfelt wishes, mostly prayers for peace, reconciliation, and building bridges of communication between nations.

The messages were received by us via the website of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, along with messages from more than 140 countries around the world, and then, as is customary, were placed between the stones of the wall.

Today, ahead of the Jewish New Year, the prayer slips that had been placed between the stones of the wall over the past six months were collected for storage and burial in accordance with Jewish religious traditions, while preserving the privacy of their contents.

Thousands of small pieces of paper came from beyond the borders and from very far away, but many of them carried a single shared wish with them: peace and friendship.

A hope for the day when these messages of peace from pieces of paper among the stones will become real bridges between nations. 🕊