Friends!

Today at the Western Wall was the largest Jewish worship - the blessing of Cohens, or in Hebrew - "birkat ha koan." It is conducted twice a year at Pesach and Sukkot, and each service collects about 50,000 Jews. Blessing of Coens is a commandment from the Torah, part of the prayer, which was held in the Jerusalem temple. Members of the genus Coen - temple priests, descendants of Aaron, come to the Western Wall, dress in white Talita and on behalf of the entire Jewish people ask God's blessing.

It would seem that tradition is very old. But Cohens began to pray at the Wailing Wall only 46 years ago.

After the defeat in the Six Day War, the Egyptians continued to bombard Israel. People died, IDF constantly needed more and more reservists, government expenditures were frantic. In 1970, Rabbi Menachem Mendl Hefner read book of Psalms and there found the following lines: "Since the Temple was destroyed each day was another curse. Who will help us to survive? Cohens ". Then the rabbi mentioned that blessing from Cohens more quickly came to God.

Then it was decided - to worship at the Western Wall and the first service gathered thousands of people. Jews sincerely rejoiced because they trusted – it was a spiritual revival. Since that times, Cohen’s blessing has taken place in the country twice a year, it collected all, even non-religious Jews.

Friends! Miracles can happen. They are implemented when we believe, when we remember and honor our traditions and look with hope to the future. I am sure that Ukraine and Israel expects many wonderful things that can bring our countries to new heights.