AP: Paper publishes Obama prayer left at the Western Wall.

[Perky]

THIS IS EXTREMELY TACKY....But the prayer is politically valuable on several fronts Particualrly the "Shares our values" front

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 25, 2008
Filed at 11:12 a.m. ET

JERUSALEM (AP) -- A written prayer that Barack Obama left this week in the cracks of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, asks God to guide him and guard his family, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday.

''Lord -- Protect my family and me,'' reads the note published in the Maariv daily. ''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's decision to make the note public drew fire. The rabbi in charge of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinovitz, said publishing the note intruded in Obama's relationship with God.

''The notes placed between the stones of the Western Wall are between a person and his maker. It is forbidden to read them or make any use of them,'' he told Army Radio. The publication ''damages the Western Wall and damages the personal, deep part of every one of us that we keep to ourselves,'' he said.

Another Israeli paper, Yediot Ahronot, published an article Friday saying it had also obtained the note but decided not to publish it to respect Obama's privacy.

Many visitors to the 2,000-year-old Western Wall leave notes bearing requests and prayers. Obama did so during a pre-dawn visit there Thursday, following a day spent meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Maariv published a photograph of the note, which it said had been removed from the wall by a student at a Jewish seminary immediately after Obama left.

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs would neither confirm nor deny the note was Obama's.

The handwriting appeared to match a message Obama inscribed Wednesday in the guest book at Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial, and was written on stationery from the King David Hotel, where Obama stayed while in Israel.

The visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories was part of an international tour meant to shore up Obama' s foreign affairs credentials.

At the Western Wall, Obama was greeted by a crowd of curious onlookers and photographers. He donned a white skullcap, listened to a rabbi read a prayer, and inserted a folded white piece of paper between the stones. One hardline Israeli protester shouted, ''Obama, Jerusalem is not for sale.''

[TwilightGardener]

1. Why would they do this? Is nothing sacred?

[liberal N proud]

2. They were hoping to find something incriminating

[TwilightGardener]

8. Yep--that was a GOP-sympathetic operative at work, hoping to reveal

a message like: "Can't wait to get away from these Jews! Praise Allah!"

[Cronus Protagonist]

19. lol -

And you know they really, really thought they would get him this time. hahaha... I'm liking Obama better every day :P

[ebdarcy]

3. How horrible.

Seriously, this is invasive in the worst way.

[donco6]

4. What bad form.

But it's a nice note. If I were the praying type, I'd echo that one.

[Supersedeas]

22. Is there no honor anymore?

[JoDog]

5. While the prayer is beautiful

it never should have been published. This was a private communication between Obama and God at what is considered to be an extremely holy site. Definitely an invasion of privacy.

[El Supremo]

6. The whole scene was bizarre.

I watched the video. The cameramen were telling people to get out of the way. This guy was shouting. And now his prayer was stolen and read? It could have been handled a lot better.

[AspenRose]

7. I think I'm going to throw up.

I can't believe this.

[leftynyc]

9. I can't believe someone did this

This was a private message between the Senator and G-d and I've never heard of this kind of invasion before. The right wing pukes are responsible for this and yes, I do believe in karma.

[JackORoses]

10. it totally sucks that this dude stole Obama's note,

but oddly enough, this will actually help Obama with a certain segment of the Population.

[AlphaCentauri]

11. I'm expecting Obama to visit our own tortilla wall

[Nafsllib]

12. It is private....

It is a private prayer between Obama and God, but come on. It's expected that someone was going to read it. They didn't publish it to incrimnate Obama, they purchased it to make news, HEADLINES and they have accomplished their task. I agree it wasn't right for them to take Obama's words but I also don't doubt that Obama thought that someone would read this as he was writing it.

[Yes We Did]

13. OH GREAT! Now McCain has proof! "Obama Sins!"

That will be the next ad.

Then, "Obama Shits!"
Then "Obama Breathes!"

Seriously though... we all knew that it would get printed as soon as we heard about it. And Obama knew it too, or at least knew there was a high probability.

200,000 person crowds? Yeah. There was no way his prayer wasn't going to get printed.

[AspenRose]

14. What I want to know

Has this happened with anyone else who has visited the Wall?

[Bicoastal]

15. 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.

[Yes We Did]

16. Shame on yourself... I didn't read the note.

[Bicoastal]

18. I did--I'll admit it.

What can I say, it was in boldface in the OP and it caught my eye.

[Perky]

17. It said "Dear God, Please protect by nuts for Jesse Jackson"

[Marrah_G]

20. "a student at a Jewish seminary"

I'm thinking he won't be for long. Greedy little fucker, you know he got paid for it.

[Douglas Carpenter]

21. I will say this. People are by nature skeptical of any politicians claims of religious faith

The release of this private prayer by Sen. Obama does support the notion that Sen. Obama profession of faith is sincere and heartfelt.

''Lord -- Protect my family and me,'' reads the note published in the Maariv daily. ''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.''

[Coexist]

23. t-a-c-k-y

[Whisp]

24. that's like looking in a diary and publishing it. it takes a special kind of jerk to do that.

disgusting.

[AnnieBW]

25. Jerusalem is not for sale

But what Obama put in the Wailing Wall is sold to the highest bidder. :eyes:

[Goblinmonger]

26. I thought for sure it was going to say

"Allah, give me the strength to hide my devotion to you long enough to carry out the jihad on the evil satan." Color me shocked.