No substitute for aliya
We live in an era where everyone wants it all. Fancy cars, fancy travel, no work. One of the things that many people want is to be at the Kotel (Western Wall) - the last remnant of the Temple Mount - regularly. And now that dream is also being sold... as an iPhone application. The new application allows users to watch the Western Wall Plaza live on their phones at anytime, take a virtual tour of the Western Wall tunnels, and send a note to the Kotel through the iPhone. The application even features a compass which is pointed towards Jerusalem, a particularly useful tool for worshippers.Sorry folks, but watching it on your iPhone is a poor substitute for being here.
The Western Wall rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, welcomed the initiative and said: “The Western Wall has been in the heart of every Jew in the world for 2,000 years. It is only natural that in the technological age there will be ways to express the love and devotion of the Jewish people to the Western Wall and to Jerusalem. We hope that the new application will strengthen the younger generation’s bond to the Kotel.”
The application is available in Hebrew, English, and Russian, and may be downloaded free of charge from the iTunes store.
I understand that while I was away, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv ruled that one should not go to the Kotel on the Sabbath because of the 'Kotel cam.' This is only likely to make things worse for those who live here.
Sorry, but you can't live here and live abroad at the same time.
More pictures of the app here.
Labels: iPhone, Kotel plaza
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:13 PM
2 Comments:
That's true... A virtual Israel will never be a substitute for the real one.
I understand that while I was away, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv ruled that one should not go to the Kotel on the Sabbath because of the 'Kotel cam.' This is only likely to make things worse for those who live here.
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Better for everyone else - much less crowded than before.
Where was Rav Elyashiv all the past years (decades) that CCTVs have been up on all the Old City gates and major thoroughfares?
Something sounds screwy.
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