Ancient boulder tumbles out of Western Wall, narrowly missing worshipper below
A LARGE rock from the Western Wall fell onto the egalitarian section of the Kotel Plaza on Monday, narrowly missing a woman praying at the site.
Security camera footage from the site showed the 100 kg (220 lb) Herodian-era stone becoming dislodged from the Wall, seemingly of its own accord, before crashing down onto the mixed prayer area at Robinson’s Arch.
The space was empty at the time except for 79-year-old Daniella Goldberg, who was praying at one corner of the platform.
“I didn’t hear or feel anything until it landed right at my feet,” she told Hadashot TV news.
Ms Goldberg said she “tried not to let the incident distract me from my prayers”, adding: “May we all be blessed.”
Yitzhar Hess, head of the Masorti Movement, described the incident as “a wake-up call.”
“We must check the entire Western Wall, so that heaven forbid there is no disaster in the future,” he said, confirming Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) were examing the incident. Archaeologist Zachi Divra said he had noticed multiple cracks in other stones during an inspection of the wall on Monday and the entire Western Wall site had become a “danger zone”.
He told Haaretz: “I went over all the other stones in that area and saw a lot that look in exactly the same condition, with very deep cracks.
“There is no danger that the wall, its Herodian parts, will fail. It is completely stable.
“But parts of the stone are crumbling and could fall.”
Jerusalem Mayor
Nir Barkat, who also inspected the site with his chief engineer on Monday, said it was “a great miracle” that no one was hurt.
The area was closed off on Mr Eshkol’s instructions until IAA inspectors could confirm it was safe. The wall’s proximity to the mosques on top of the Temple Mount create political sensitivities over possible repair work .
The section of stone which crumbled came from the original wall, construction of which began during the rule of the Roman vassal king Herod more than two millenia ago.
The last incident where stones from the wall crumbled and fell onto a prayer plaza came on Yom Kippur in 2004, leaving one worshipper slightly injured.
Parts of the stone are crumbling and could fall