What does the Kotel mean to me?

, which belongs to every Jew, focuses on the young. But possessing the requisite energy to pull all-nighters is not the reason. Rather, the young are deemed the guarantors of the Torah. And the revelation of the Torah at Mt. Sinai long ago is what Shavuot commemorates and celebrates. The Intermountain Jewish News did not limit this piece to youth, yet this year’s edition gives them a primary voice. Respondents’ answers indicate that their level of Jewish awareness shaped their initial reaction to the Wall, and the meaning of that encounter might evolve over time. I first saw the Wall during my inaugural IJN assignment to Israel in 1994. I arrived as an explorer, not a searcher, because I’d cast off my Judaism years ago. […]