News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) The modern stones used to fill in part of the Western Wall of the retaining wall of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem when it was first restored in the 19th century CE are crumbling and will need to be repaired, according to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, also known as the Kotel Rabbi.

Unlike the ancient stones of the retaining wall of the Second Temple, known today as the Western Wall or Kotel, the smaller more modern stones are beginning to disintegrate, said the rabbi in an interview Monday in The Jerusalem Post.

“The original stones from the retaining wall of the Second Temple are strong and stable,” noted the rabbi, who said work will begin after the holiday of Passover and will hopefully be completed before the winter rains, when there might be a risk of stones falling on worshippers.