People shared prayers, blessings at Western Wall replica

The folded pieces of paper stuffed into the wall’s cracks don’t look much different, really, than the chewing gum wrappers and other bits of trash you’ll find tucked away in odd places during any Las Vegas convention.

But these bits of paper have particular meaning: Inscribed on them are prayers, petitions and expressions of gratitude that visitors to last weekend’s Celebrate Israel Festival Las Vegas felt compelled to express and, then, place into a replica of the Western Wall.

Organizers said the notes placed in the 32-foot simulated wall eventually will make their way to Jerusalem and be inserted into the real Western Wall. But for Southern Nevadans who took part in the activity here, that seemed to be merely a bonus.

For them, simply taking part, however vicariously, in a centuries-old tradition was meaningful in itself.

The Celebrate Israel Festival Las Vegas, held Sunday at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, offered visitors a taste of Israel’s history and culture through entertainment, informational exhibits, food and merchandise vendors and children’s activities. This year, for the first time, the festival, sponsored by the Israeli-American Council Las Vegas, also included the Western Wall replica.

The Western Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem, is a remnant of the Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 C.E. (“common era,” equivalent to the designation A.D.), and over the centuries became a place of prayer and remembrance for the Jewish people. Today, visitors who go to the wall place into it small notes of prayer and blessing.

Some visitors to the replica of the wall here did the same. Some also chose to augment the experience by donning tefillin, leather boxes containing parchment inscribed with passages from the Torah that are fastened to the head and arm with leather straps.

Rabbi Shea Harlig of Chabad of Southern Nevada said praying with tefillin is a common practice among visitors to the real Western Wall.

“The wall is where people always pray, so even people who don’t (wear tefillin) every day, they go to the wall and they like to put it on to do a prayer. So we’re replicating that,” Harlig said.

Karen Morris, who visited the festival with her mother, Renee Morris, called the replica wall and organizers’ promise to deliver notes placed into it to the real wall “a great concept. I love it.”

Morris said she’s not yet visited the real wall, but that the trip is “on my bucket list. My mother is a Holocaust survivor, so I’d like her to go back to Israel.”

Morris and her mother planned to place their notes in the wall before leaving the festival. What would her note say? Probably, Morris said, a note to express “great gratitude.”

Bobbi Feinstein called the replica exhibit “really timely and appropriate, and it’s a wonderful education for those who don’t know about Israel and see what it’s like to be in Israel.”

Feinstein has visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem several times. Viewing the replica is “not quite the same,” she said, “but it feels good. It’s nice to celebrate Israel.”

Roza Gavrin also has visited the real wall, but called the replica “great. It’s a beautiful concept.”

Having the replica — and the opportunity to place notes in it — here in Las Vegas makes Israel “seem closer to home,” Gavrin said.

What did her note say? “Just asking for the health of my family and peace in Israel. What else?”

Gavrin laughed. “You don’t want to be too selfish, you know?”

Morrie Tokarski, who staffed the note-writing table with his wife, Lily, said the replica is “a great idea,” even if it couldn’t replicate completely the feeling of going to Israel.

“When you land at Ben Gurion (Airport), all of a sudden it feels different,” he said.

For some guests, notes offered not only the opportunity to pray for themselves, but to offer prayers for more global concerns. Lily Tokarski recalled “a little 7-year-old boy who came up. I was watching what he was writing, and his note said he wished for world peace. And that was a 7-year-old boy.”

Placing notes in the replica wall even turned out to be an ecumenical sort of activity. Abigail and Patrick Carter attended the festival with their 4-year-old twins, Ryan and Desmond.

“It’s very exciting,” Abigail said. “We’re not even of the Jewish faith, but we were attracted here just because we enjoy learning. So we were just told to write a blessing or a wish, and we were honored to be able to participate in the sharing of this.”

And their own notes? “Well, I asked the boys what their wish was, and one was to become a train engineer, to drive a train,” Abigail said.

But, ultimately, the family asked for the answering of prayers “both known and unknown,” she said.

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280, or follow @JJPrzybys on Twitter.