Circling the gates (file)
Circling the gates (file)PR photo

About 1,500 adults and youth took part Wednesday in the “circling of the gates” celebration in Jerusalem to honor Rosh Hodesh Adar – the First of the Month of the Hebrew month Adar.

Despite driving rain the participants walked around the Temple Mount, praying and dancing, and stopping at every one of its ancient gates.

This being the month of Adar, in which the joyful holiday of Purim is celebrated, the event was merrier than usual. The event moderator, Rabbi Yosef Plai, spoke about the connection between Purim and Adar, and the Temple.

The organizers handed out magnets with aerial photographs of the Temple Mount, in which the 11 gates are marked out.

The Circling of the Gates is a tradition at least 1,000 years old that was renewed in British Mandate times, again after the Six Day War, and yet again in the year 2000 – it has been held for 13 straight years, with the participation of hundreds of thousands of Jews.