The Western Wall

Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc, 1997. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. 143 pages. 11 by 11 inches. Photography monograph capturing people and events at the most sacred place in Jewish biblical history. Introduction by Yehuda Amichai. Photographs reproduced in color including two fold-outs. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper: 'For Rohnda & Stephen, from the heart of Jerusalem and my own, with appreciation, Michael.' A large, heavy book. From the Harvard office library of the paleontologist and leading advocate for evolution, Stephen Jay Gould. With a posthumous tipped in bookplate indicating the provenance. *** Intellectually, Gould understood the true nature of these bookplates, but the book collector in him appreciated them. In his essay 'A Seahorse for All Races' Gould writes about one of his prized possessions, a book from Charles Dickens' library: 'Dickens made no annotations, but a bookplate on the cover, presumably inserted as a come-on for a sale after Dickens' death in 1870, does prove that [he] kept and shelved the book.' *** We offer our Gould bookplates, printed letterpress in two colors, in the same spirit.

The Western Wall in Jerusalem is undoubtedly recognized as the most sacred and important place in Jewish biblical history and evokes the deepest emotions in millions of Jews the world over. When you stand at the Western Wall, you stand at the center of ancient Israel and at a place where Jewish pilgrims have come for thousands of years. Michal Ronnen Safdie presents an intimate photographic portrait of the Wall and the people who come to pray, to see, to touch, or just to share in the experience of being in its presence. During the course of a day, the Wall receives thousands of different people from as many different cultures and walks of life. Scores of activities take place there, and this book captures them as only the eye of a skilled photographer can: brides and grooms arrive at dusk on the way of their wedding to pose for the perfect wedding shot; a Jew wearing Tefillin holds a video camera in his free hand, pausing in his prayers to capture his own special moment at the Wall; thousands of excited young boys amass at the Wall as they lay Tefillin for the first time. Ronnen Safdie captures the mounting excitement as crowds of people blanket the plaza to celebrate numerous celebrations: religious holidays such as early sunrise prayers for Shavuot, national ceremonies such as Memorial Day, and political events such as the end of a three-day fast by hundreds of Israelis protesting the bloodshed in the region. In contrast there are intimate moments of individuals at the Wall. Photos of everyday life around the Wall show people passing by its shadow on their way to market, and laundry from nearby homes dries in the heat of the Jerusalem midday sun. Combined with this are rare views ofMoslems at their holy Friday prayer atop the Temple Mount, while Jews are seen praying below at the foot of the Wall.