G-d's mail delivered to Western Wall

Shmuel Rabinovich, the rabbi of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, places letters, written by worshippers from around the world and addressed to G-d, into holes in the Wall, in Jerusalem's Old City, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005. (AP)

By Rabbi Jo David

G-d's got mail.

Postal workers on Wednesday dropped off hundreds of letters addressed to G-d at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site.

"This place is the holiest place for the Jews, and it is the first gate for prayers. That's why a prayer in this place is important and these notes are important," said Shmuel Rabinovitch, chief rabbi at the site.

The Israeli postal service sorts over 2 million pieces of mail daily, and inevitably some of those letters come addressed to G-d, the Holy Land or Jesus. Rather than consign the letters to bins of undeliverable mail, letters addressed to G-d are collected and deposited at the Western Wall a few times a year.

The Western Wall is revered by Jews as a remnant of the biblical Temple, and many people come to the wall to pray and slip notes with requests between the ancient stones.

Rabinovitch said people of all faiths were welcome to offer prayers at the wall or through letters because the Temple was intended to be a house of prayer for all nations.

Postal authorities consider the letters private conversations with G-d and do not open them. Letters come from all corners of the globe, including a few from predominantly Muslim nations like Indonesia.