Archives » Tuesday, July 29, 2008
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Newsweek
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Jul 29, 2008 12:50 PM
By Kevin Peraino
Nearly a week after Barack Obama made a
brief campaign stop in Jerusalem, Israelis are still shaking their
heads over the aggressive reporting of their local news media. Last
week the Israeli daily Ma'ariv published a photo of the prayer note
Obama tucked between the stones of the Western Wall--a common tradition
among Israelis and foreign tourists. "Lord -- Protect my family and
me," said the note, which was written on the stationery of the King
David Hotel, where Obama was staying. "Forgive me my sins, and help me
guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right
and just. And make me an instrument of your will." (Obama's
spokespeople later declined to confirm or deny that the prayer was
his.)
The theft--by a student at a local yeshiva--was quickly
condemned by the religious figures in charge of the wall. "The notes
placed between the stones of the Western Wall are between a person and
his maker," Shmuel Rabinovitz, the rabbi who manages the site, told a
local radio station. "It is forbidden to read them or make any use of
them." Rabinovitz and his colleagues do occasionally round up the notes
to make more space, but those prayers are then buried unread on the
nearby Mount of Olives. In Obama's case, the yeshiva student ultimately
returned the note, but by then newspapers around the world had
published its contents.
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