Thousands Throng to Western Wall for traditional Passover priestly blessing ceremony

Thousands of people were able to attend the traditional priestly blessing event at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem on Monday, For the first time in a year and a half,  made possible by the rolling back of coronavirus restrictions ahead of the Passover festival.

Traditionally, tens of thousands of Jewish pilgrims make their way twice a year to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, on the intermediate days of the Passover and Sukkot festivals, with crowds of men and women spilling out from the Wall’s plaza to surrounding areas.

As the COVID-19 pandemic reached Israel and the virus spread, mass public events were canceled, and last year, just a symbolic 10 people were permitted to gather at the Western Wall to perform the ceremony, part of the special holiday prayers.

During Sukkot, last October, the priestly blessing was held, but with a greatly reduced number of participants due to still high numbers of virus infections — and Israel’s general population under a restrictive lockdown.

Jewish worshipers cover themselves with prayer shawls as they pray in front of the Western Wall, during the priestly blessing event of the Passover holiday, March 29, 2021.

The Western Wall is the closest spot to the Temple Mount where Jews can pray. Though they may visit the Mount, where the two ancient Jewish Temples stood, Jews are not allowed to pray at the holy site, which is overseen by a Jordanian custodian.