Sometimes it is not enough to say a silent prayer at synagogue, or while you are biking around Lake Calhoun, or at home while saying Birkat Hamazon, the blessing over the meal (complete with the table bangings you remember from Jewish camp). Sometimes you need to communicate your prayer straight to God through the oldest physical source Jews have to pray to God – the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
But . . . a ticket to Israel is costing somewhere around $1000 these days, so unless you are heading to Israel for a whirlwind tour with Birthright Israel, or making Aliyah sometime soon, you may need another way to get your pleadings (please God let me pass the bar exam!) into those cracks of the ancient Temple wall.
Jew with a prayer, meet @TheKotel.
If you are on Twitter, the brand new @TheKotel service gives you an opportunity to tweet your prayers (publicly with @ replies, or privately with direct messages or DMs). The service is free, although if you are so inclined, they accept donations on their website, Tweet Your Prayers.
Once you tweet your prayer @TheKotel will print it out, and stick it into the cracks of the Western Wall with the other millions of prayers for God to read and act on this week. Although the Twitter service just started in June, the founder, Alon Nil, told the Huffington Post that he has already received via tweet hundreds of prayers from all over the world.
If you are not yet on Twitter, you can also email your prayers to be printed out and stuck into the Western Wall’s cracks through the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.
God is still listening – have you tweeted yet?
(Photo of the Kotel: spinedoc18)
