| 5. The Kotel is also known as
A. The Western Wall
Answer: A, C. Among Jews, the Kotel is known only as the Western Wall, or in Hebrew, Ha-Kotel Ha-Maaravi. In the 19th century, the Kotel became a popular tourist site for Christians, where Jews could often be seen crying over their lost temple. Among travelers, it became known as the “Wailing Place” and later the “Wailing Wall.” Many Christians believed the Temple
of the Jews had been destroyed in 70 C.E. as God’s punishment for the Jews
rejecting Jesus as the messiah and that the Jews were crying over their
mistake. Once the Kotel had been returned to Jewish control
in 1967, many Jews considered it a place of celebration, not lamentation.
The term “Wailing Wall” is rarely used today.
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