Young boys dressed like old men. |
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During the day, I wandered and photographed the throngs in the plaza in front of the Kotel. Some offered prayers and supplications and others simply watched. I did not come to photograph the tourists who held no fascination for me. I was inspired instead by the curiously dressed Hassidic worshipers. During the daylight hours they were in the minority and prayed together in small groups. The Hasidic children were to my eye, especially photogenic. They appeared to be acting in a play, dressing up as adults in costumes of another age. I had only a passing familiarity with the Hassidic movement at the time I took these photographs. It was only |
after my trip that I researched the origins and history of this sect of Jews. I learned that the Hassidic movement has many branches. All emanate from a practice of Judaism founded in the 1700s in Poland by the Ba'al Shem Tov and other rabbis. They were considered radicals by the mainstream Jews of their time. The Hassids viewed their Jewish contemporaries as practicing rote adherence to religious law. They preached instead the virtues of an individual's personal relationship with God. Ironically, radical as they were in their time, they are today one of Judaism's most ritually observant groups. Their religious leader, the "Rebbe," still plays an important role in maintaining the continuity of tradition and orthodoxy. |