As Yidden prepare for the Yomim Noraim, engineers on Tuesday began getting the Kosel ready for the thousands of visitors expected.

The engineers, working for the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which administers the site’s daily affairs, examined the structural integrity of the Wall, removing loose stones and seasonal plants.

The inspection is performed twice a year, ahead of Rosh Hashanah and pesach, for the safety of visitors and to maintain the wall’s structural integrity. The work is done under the supervision of the rov of the Kosel and the Mekomos Hakedoshim, Rav Shmuel Rabinowitz, and in accordance with halacha.

In July 2018, a boulder weighing 100 kilograms (220 pounds) became dislodged from the wall and fell, just missing a 79-year-old woman davening there.

According to the foundation, more than half a million people visited the Kosel during Pesach this year.

During the inspections, workers also clean the Wall and remove the thousands of kvitlach that visitors place between the stones.

Notes removed by workers are buried. JNS

Source: Matzav