Israeli paper publishes Obama's wall note

[jezebel]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0708/Obamas_note.html#comments


The Israeli paper Maariv obtains the note Obama left at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and puts a photograph of it on its front page.

The handwriting, beneath the letterhead of the King David Hotel, does appear to be Obama's. Visitors traditional stick notes of prayer into the wall.

The note says:

Lord,

Protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins and help me guard against pride and despair.

Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just.

And make me an instrument of your will.

The paper reports that the note was taken by a yeshiva student who was at the wall at the time -- a mark of how virtually nothing remains private.

The rabbi of the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall, condemned its publication.

[GarbagemanLB]

1. So they just took it out of the wall? Isn't that, like, something you shouldn't do?

[WeDidIt]

2. Taking it is a horrible unforgivable sin

May the perpetrator of the sin be forgiven.

[derby378]

3. Very poignant, but not worthy of violating Obama's privacy

Someone needs to smack the meshugah who stole that from the Wall. I mean, that's seriously rude.

[tishaLA]

4. Who the fuck thought this was OK to do?

I'm just astonished. I mean *really fucking* astonished.

[Kber]

5. A - It's something you really shouldn't do

Although if you believe in an omnipresent God, the whereabouts of the prayer shouldn't affect it's effectiveness, but it seems like a serious invasion of privacy.

BUT
B - It's a nice prayer, even more so since it was meant to remain between Obama and his God and nobody else.

[Inuca]

6. That yeshiva student

should be thrown out of the yeshiva. No expert (at all), but I think this is interfering between a man and his God. OTOH the text is truly moving.

[YOY]

7. Agreed tenfold.

On both accounts.

[K Gardner]

8. When I saw the video of him trying to cram it into the crack.. I had a feeling someone would

retrieve it.. despicable, but predictable.

[Pathwalker]

9. They STOLE his prayer? That is sacrilege!

They stole his prayer - it doesn't get any more disgusting than that.

[Milo_Bloom]

10. Surprised he didn't ebay it.

[Bicoastal]

11. Last night, Colbert showed Obama's letter to God as a JOKE...

...saying that "his sources" had recovered it from the wall. I forget what it supposedly said, but the real humor stemmed from Colbert's chutzpah in taking a prayer out of the Western Wall in the first place.

It's not so funny that someone would do it for real, and that the contents of said note would make worldwide headlines.

Shame on the student for taking the note,

Shame on the newspaper for publishing it,

And shame on YOU AND ME for reading it.

[TheDonkey]

12. how terrible.