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By ANAV SILVERMAN<\/p>\n
(TAZPIT NEWS AGENCY) – The days leading up to Yom Kippur have brought thousands of Jewish prayer goers to some of Judaism\u2019s holiest sites \u2013 the Western Wall in Jerusalem and the Tomb of Patriarchs in Hebron. <\/p>\n
Before the holiest day of the Jewish year – Yom Kippur – takes place, traditional penitential prayers known as Selichot are recited in the early hours of the morning or after midnight by Jewish worshippers, particularly during the ten days known as Yamim Noraim (“Days of Awe”), between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.<\/p>\n
This past week on Tuesday, over 20,000 Jewish worshippers visited the Tomb of Patriarchs in Hebron – Ma’arat HaMechpela – to recite Selichot including 2,500 Karliner Hasidim with their Hasidic rebbe. \u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation stated on Thursday that some 500,000 people have visited the Western Wall for Selichot prayers since the start of Elul, the last month of the Jewish calendar and into Tishrei, the first month of the Jewish year. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis dramatic spectacle of the masses of the Jewish people thronging to the Western Wall is an impressive testimony and is an honor for the people of Israel and [demonstrates] its affinity to its traditions and inheritance and to the remnant of our Temple,\u201d said Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the Western Wall rabbi in a Jerusalem Post report.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is hard not to be moved by the strength of these images, which demonstrate the true strength of the Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n