Where do Jews go on pilgrimage? What can you find out about this pilgrimage site? Israel & the Western Wall Jews live all over the world, however many of them still consider Israel to be their homeland. Israel is so special for Jews because they believe that it is the land that God gave to the Jewish people to be their home. This means that many Jews who don’t live in Israel, visit Israel on pilgrimage. They often go to the most important Jewish holy city in Israel, called Jerusalem. Jerusalem is so important to Jews because it is where the first Jewish temple was built. However, in 70CE (CE means the Common Era, we might say 70AD – why would Jews not say AD?) the temple was destroyed & all that was left was part of its outer wall. This wall is now called the Western Wall (it is sometimes also called the Wailing Wall). The main reason why pilgrims (& Jewish people who live in Israel) go to the Western Wall is to pray. Some people write their prayers on small pieces of paper & put the paper in the cracks in the wall.

 You need to work in groups of 4 people.  Each group needs 2 sheets of large paper (1 coloured sheet & 1 plain sheet), a copy of the text book: ‘Skills in Religious Studies, Book 1’, some scissors, glue & coloured pens. Your research task is to: As a small group, you are going to make a display of the Western Wall Some of bricks will contain facts about Jewish pilgrimage to Israel & the Western Wall. Some of the bricks will contain your group’s prayers. There are 3 parts to this activity – you will need to work efficiently as a group & ensure that everybody in your group does their fair share of work. Before you start… Before you start the task you need to cut your coloured paper into approximately 16 square pieces – these are your bricks for your Western Wall. You are working with others…

 Each person in your group needs 3 bricks & a coloured pen. You also all need to be able to see the text book & you may want to use the internet.  There are 12 questions in yellow below, each person needs to choose 3 questions that they will research the answers to.  When you have found out the answers, you need to write each answer AS A FULL SENTENCE on separate bricks.  Answers need to be written in a creative, clear & interesting way. 1.What country do Jews consider to be their spiritual homeland? 2.Why do Jews believe that Israel is their spiritual homeland? 3.What are some of the reasons why Jewish pilgrims visit Israel? 4.What is the most important city in Israel for Jewish pilgrims to visit? 5.Why is Jerusalem an important city for Jews? 6.Why was the temple important for Jews? 7.What things took place at the temple? 8.When do thousands of people travel to Jerusalem? 9.When was the temple destroyed? 10.What part of the temple remains standing today? 11.What does the Western Wall remind Jews of? 12.What is the main activity that Jews do at the Western Wall? You are communicating, working with others & developing your ICT skills…

If your group started off with 16 bricks, you should have used 12 bricks for part 1 of the research activity & you should now be left with 4 bricks. Divide these bricks amongst your group, so that each person has a brick each. The Western Wall, as you have found out, is a place where Jewish pilgrims go to pray. You are each going to write a prayer on your brick. Your prayer can be for yourself, your friends, your family, the environment, the world – whatever you want it to be for… Jews pray to God, however they consider God’s name so holy that they do not write it in full, so you need to start your prayers as a Jewish pilgrim would start prayers they wrote down with… Dear G_d, Set out your prayer in a clear, creative & interesting way – giving lots of details in your prayer. You are working with others…

The final part of your Western Wall activity is… Arrange your bricks so that they look like a wall! You then need to glue them onto the plain paper so that you have a Western Wall display produced by your group. Write the title (in a clear & interesting way): Jewish pilgrims go on pilgrimage to the Western Wall in Israel Also, write the names of the people in your group to show who produced the display – remember to do this neatly. As a group, think about what you have completed in today’s lesson & award yourselves… …for 2 things that you have done well… …a wish for something that if you did this task again you would change. You are communicating & working with others… You are improving your own learning & performance…

 At the start of today’s lesson we had the aim of finding out… Where do Jews go on pilgrimage? What have you found out about this pilgrimage site?  Also, think about the activities that you have done in today’s lesson… What skills have you used & developed in today’s lesson? You need to complete the worksheet about the Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, called the Hajj. You are communicating…