As is customary each year before the Passover holiday at the Western Wall - thousands of notes that were placed between the stones in the past six months were collected and transferred to a designated genizah (storage area for worn-out sacred texts) In honor of the Passover holiday, this morning (Tuesday), the Western Wall Heritage Foundation conducted the traditional clearing of thousands of prayer notes that were placed between the stones of the Western Wall over the past six months. The clearing was carried out according to halachic (Jewish law) guidelines using gloves and disposable wooden tools. The purpose of the clearing is to make space for new notes from visitors expected to arrive at the Western Wall in the coming months, as well as prayer notes sent from various countries around the world. The notes were collected in bags and will be buried together with worn-out sacred books in a designated genizah. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall and the holy sites, personally oversees the clearing each year, offering prayers for unity among the Jewish people and for the thousands who have placed their prayers. The custom of placing notes in the Western Wall has been documented for nearly three hundred years by the Ohr Hachaim. Prayer notes are placed throughout the length of the Western Wall and can also be found between the stones exposed in the Western Wall Tunnels. Related articles: Special prayer for hostages held at Kotel tomorrow Heroes from Nova massacre recited 'Hagomel' blessing Soldiers say thanksgiving blessing at Western Wall Argentinian Pres. lights candle at Kotel for victims The Western Wall Heritage Foundation notes that an average of 3,000 notes are sent each month through the Foundation's website in addition to the hundreds of thousands of notes personally placed by visitors. In the past year, about a hundred thousand notes were sent via the Foundation's website from various countries around the world, including the United States, Slovakia, Brazil, South America, Colombia, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, England, Russia, Venezuela, Ukraine, India, Mexico, Argentina, Taiwan, and more. Notes are sent to the Western Wall throughout the year, each note with its own story. In the past six months, since October 7th, in addition to the thousands of visitors who came to the Western Wall and placed notes, many notes were also sent via the website from Israel and around the world by IDF soldiers, the wounded, families of hostages, and more. It should be noted that despite a decrease in the number of tourists since the Sukkot holiday, the number of notes placed by Israelis and sent from various locations around the country has increased.
A New York judge said on Monday that the U.S. Justice Department cannot force Apple to provide the FBI with access to locked iPhone data in a routine Brooklyn drug case, CNBC reports. The decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein follows the recent order by a judge in California requiring Apple to create software to help unlock the iPhone of one of the shooters in the December 2 killing of 14 people in San Bernardino, California. In October, Orenstein invited Apple to challenge the government's use of a 1789 law to compel Apple to help it recover iPhone data in criminal cases. Since then, Apple has opposed the requests to help extract information from over a dozen iPhones in California, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York, noted CNBC . The New York case is "directly on point" with the situation in California, a senior Apple executive said in a press briefing Monday. While the California judge would not be required to follow the decision, it may have "some persuasive effect" on the outcome, the executive said. The executive contended that, in asking Apple to create a new software in the California case, the government took a more onerous stance in New York. The executive argued that the difference between a shooting and drug investigation would not matter because the Constitution "doesn't distinguish" between those types of crime. Apple last week argued in court against the ruling ordering it to help the FBI unlock shooter Syed Farook's phone, arguing that such a move would violate its free speech rights and require it to devote significant resources to comply. Apple also argued that the court was over-stepping its jurisdiction, noting that Congress had rejected legislation that would have required companies to do the things the government is asking Apple to do in this case. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that the company is prepared to take the case to the Supreme Court if necessary.