Erev Erev Yom Kippur (the night before the first night of Yom kippur) -
In the previous few days traffic has been much worse than normal in Jerusalem. After asking a number of locals and taxi drivers what was going on I have come to the conclusion that it is the result of thousands of Israelis from all over the country making pilgrimage of sorts to the city- specifically to the Kotel (there are tourists are here too, don't worry).
Here's my take on this phenomenon based off of participant observation and chatting up people in the area :-) (note: My experiences only involved the male end of the kotel experience... and my "observations" are all gross generalizations)... With that said, here are the types of people who come to the kotel right before Yom Kippur.
- Some are religious (da-tim דתים) Israeli's who come to pray at the Kotel (a.k.a. western wall) more than once a year- this is to be expected. They are usually dressed in black and white or some sort of (relatively) nicer dress and are wearing a kippah (plural: kippot) that appears to fit them and might be a bit dirty, meaning they wear it on a regular basis.
- Some are so called "secular" (Khi-lo-nee חילוני) Israelis who come to pray at the wall before Yom Kippur for a number of reasons... They can be identified by a brightly colored woven kippah that has a large crease straight down the middle indicating that is has been in a drawer for a long long time or are wearing the complementary white cheap-o kippot that they give out at the western wall...
- Some are "secular" but believe in God. They don't find belonging in Orthodox Judaism, and therefore consider themselves secular.
- Some are "secular" and come to the Kotel because, well, that's what they have been taught to do.
- Some are "secular" and are humoring their religious families
- Some are "secular" and are grasping for a connection to Judaism, and if there's a place and time to find connection, this must be it.
- Some are "secular" and come to people watch
- Some are a combination of any number of thes.
- There are also groups of young soldiers in olive green uniforms who sometimes look more like kids at summer camp, strolling around in large groups by the old city singing traditional Israeli folk songs like "Who let the dogs out" and "Bad Romance." They're just excited that they get to go on a field trip to visit the kotel and get some time off of base. They also fall into one of the "secular" or religious categories too.
- Tourists- often Jews from the diaspora who come to visit the kotel as a sort of pilgrimage. They can often be identified by their oversized kippot, fannie packs, t-shirts with American sports team logos and the team name in Hebrew. On special occasions they also don nametags from their tours that make them look like college freshmen during orientation week.
