Following Jewish tradition, Obama donned a yarmulke and went to the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, where shortly before dawn on Thursday he stuffed his prayer into a crevice between the giant white stones, hewn more than 2,000 years ago. Traditionally such prayers — and there are more than a million each year, some arriving by fax and e-mail — are collected twice a year and buried on the Mount of Olives. It is considered taboo to read the prayers.
But after Obama and his entourage left the sacred site, an orthodox seminary student went to the Wall, fished out Obama's personal note and delivered it to Maariv newspaper, which duly printed the Senator's prayer.
On hotel stationery, he penned the following prayer, according to Maariv, which ran a photo of the note: "Lord, protect my family and me," Obama wrote. "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."
Obama, now finishing up the European leg of his tour, has not commented on his private prayer being made public in Jerusalem.
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