Birkat Kohanim (Priestly Blessing) at the Kotel in Jerusalem 5771 (2011)

Many thousands of Jews gathered at the Kotel (the Western Wall) on the 2nd day of Chol HaMoed Pesach 5771 (the intermediate days of the Passover festival of 2011) for Birkat Kohanim (the Priestly Blessing) in accordance with the Torah’s commandment in the book of Bamidbar (Numbers) chapter 6 verse 23-27. The ceremony has become a tradition ever since the liberation of Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount) and the rest of the Old City of Jerusalem during the Six Day War in 1967. It is in commemoration of t