Over 50,000 Jewish worshippers attend Priestly Blessing ceremony at Western Wall

Over 50,000 Jewish worshippers participated in the biannual Priestly Blessing ceremony (Birkat HaKohanim in Hebrew) at the Western Wall on Monday morning.

The tradition was started by the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Gafni and has continued for 53 years.

The Priestly Blessing ceremony is held during the feasts of Passover and Sukkot and has attracted large crowds in the past.

Monday morning's ceremony was attended by Israel's chief rabbis, Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and Rabbi David Lau; Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites; and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.

Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz told the gathered worshippers: “This year, we received more than anything the blessing of 'And He shall give you peace.' This is a prayer that we all carry in our hearts to our Father in Heaven, asking Him to remove baseless hatred from us and to spread the sukkah of peace over us.”

Due to the increasing number of people attending the gathering, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation added an additional Priestly Blessing ceremony.

The Foundation also provided the Four Species for worshippers to use for netilat lulav, the blessing of the four species, in which the worshipper recites the traditional blessing while waving the four species in the four cardinal directions, as well as up and down.

The Foundation erected booths (sukkot) for worshippers to use at the edges of the Western Wall Plaza.

Due to the large crowds, the security detail was increased and the Israeli police force reportedly had to impose a maximum participant number to ensure the safety of those participating.

The Western Wall Foundation also provides live video feeds of the morning prayer services on Hol Hamoed days [the first and last days are considered Sabbaths, so no video is broadcast].