Send your prayers to the Western Wall via Twitter
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Got a short message for God? Now you can tweet it. Economics student Alon Nil delivers Twitter prayer messages to the Western Wall, which was part of the Jewish Second Temple of Jerusalem destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. At this sacred spot, people from around the world stuff prayers written on pieces of paper into the cracks of the wall.
But no need to go there. Nil, 25, accepts Twitter messages -- which have a maximum of 140 characters -- that he transcribes and takes to the wall himself.
On his site, Nil has a tutorial for sending a message.
He told the Associated Press he got the idea after seeing how Twitter was used by protesters in Iran during the recent unrest in that country. ‘I realized the potential of Twitter,’ Nil said.
The service is free, but Nil has been so swamped with requests since word got around that he requests donations. ‘Don’t forget that this service is run form the bedroom of a 25-year-old student who’s working on an old computer,’ he says on his site.
And you don’t have to be Jewish to send a prayer. Nil points out that both Barack Obama and Pope Benedict XVI left messages when they visited the wall.
But what if your prayer doesn’t get answered? Can you call customer service?
‘Take it up with the Big Guy upstairs,’ Nil answers in his FAQ. ‘We’re just middle-men.’
-- David Colker
