Emotional 100,000 Attend Selichot at the Western Wall

Tens of thousands of Jews visited the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem on Monday night, gathering to ask for forgiveness and mercy in Selichot prayers before the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) fast despite - or in spite of - the tense security situation in the capital. As many as 100,000 people may have visited the Kotel throughout the night for the culmination of the penitentiary prayers, which ends some 40 days of prayer for Sephardic Jews and roughly two weeks for Ashkenazic Jews. The prayer drew a va