Yesterday (July 27) marked the Jewish fast day of Tisha B’av, or the Ninth of Av.
It commemorates and mourns the destruction of the First and Second Temples and other tragedies that befell the Jewish people.
The Western Wall in Jerusalem is the only remnant of the Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in August 70 CE, and is the holiest site in Judaism.
An image showing people praying at the Western Wall is a motif that has been used in the decoration of synagogues.
Click here to see more about murals depicting the Holy Land, in our JHE post from January 5, 2014
The Western Wall is sometimes commonly referred to as the “Wailing Wall.” In the decades since the Holocaust, fragments of matzevot have been used to construct commemorative walls in a number of Jewish cemeteries.
Here are a few examples, both of the image of the Western Wall in synagogue decoration and of the commemorative walls constructed of matzevot and fragments:
