100,000 Gather at Western Wall for Penitential Prayers, Broadcast to Hostages Square

Approximately 100,000 people attended a major Selichot ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Thursday night, ahead of Yom Kippur. The prayer service was simultaneously broadcast to Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where eight former hostages released from Gaza were present. This dual location event aimed to connect two sites that have become highly symbolic in Israel since the October 7th attacks.

At the Western Wall, tens of thousands of worshippers gathered to recite traditional penitential prayers. In Tel Aviv, several hundred people watched the broadcast from Hostages Square. The Rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinowitz, addressed the gathering, referencing the past two years marked by war and the plight of the hostages. He emphasized the special significance of this year's ceremony, following a period where prayers at Hostages Square were focused on the return of captives.

Among the former hostages present in Tel Aviv were Rom Braslavski and Bar Kupershtein. They had previously participated in a prayer and thanksgiving ceremony at Hostages Square, where they shared their experiences of captivity and their return to life in Israel.