The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of South Sudan, His Excellency Dr. James Pitia Morgan, visited the Western Wall plaza on Sunday for prayer, part of a political visit to Israel. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites, received the minister alongside Mordechai (Suli) Eliav, CEO of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.
1+The two walked him through the history of the site and its meaning to the Jewish people as a remnant of the Holy Temple, a focal point of prayer and longing across generations. They thanked him for the friendship between South Sudan and Israel and for his country’s support.
Morgan spoke about his own background during the visit. “I was born and raised in a Christian family, and all our lives we learned from the Bible about the history of the Jewish people, about the suffering it went through, but also about its great victories,” he said. “We learned that God’s promise to the Jewish people is eternal. He has never abandoned you, and continues to stand by your side to this very day.”
1+The minister urged perseverance through hardship. “Even in moments of difficulty, one must not lose hope. You are a blessed and chosen people, and Jerusalem is the house of God,” he said. He described the shared history of the two faiths, from the Exodus to the present, as a reminder that the Jewish people endure and prevail.
Rabinowitz and Morgan recited a chapter of Psalms together along with a prayer for the peace of nations and peoples. The minister then placed a note between the stones of the Wall.
Morgan signed the guest book before leaving. “I am happy to be here today together with all the members of my delegation from South Sudan,” he wrote. “We, in South Sudan, stand in solidarity with the Jewish people and with the State of Israel. We will always pray for peace, for love and for the prosperity of this Holy Land.”