Priests and rabbis pray at holy sites for worshippers unable to make pilgrimage to ancient city.
A growing movement of organisations in Jerusalem are offering proxy prayer services to Christians and Jews willing to pay to have their divine requests delivered in the holy city.
For millennia, pilgrims have longed to connect with God on these Middle Eastern hills sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims.
Today, businesses and fundraising charities have tapped into a global market among those who are unable to visit the ancient walled city but want to hire a surrogate to pray in their stead.
One website, Holy Land Prayer, provides a tiered set of services, ranging from $15 to $40 (£11 to £30), for a priest to read out a prayer in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus is believed to have been crucified, buried and resurrected.
“We want to help people experience the power of prayer in their lives, especially when they feel like they cannot pray for themselves,” the site says.
The top-end option includes lighting a candle and the placing of the individual’s photo next to it, with video footage being sent to them by email. Holy Land Prayer said in an email to the Guardian that several hundred prayers were processed a month, with most of the money being donated to the church that is considered the holiest site in Christianity.
Salvation Garden, a startup company, runs a sophisticated website operating in four languages where people can fill out a form for bespoke prayer requests.
Customers can choose pre-written prayers, such as “Our Father”, or suggested prayers on healing, but they can also write their own and select which priest they need to deliver their wishes: Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant.
While the basic prayer service is free, paid-for extras include a video of the prayer being carried out, or a printed certificate to be sent by post.
Salvation Garden told the Guardian it believes the Holy Land should be accessible to all, including those who cannot make it to Jerusalem. It said a lot of requests came via Facebook, and the company is to release a smartphone app soon.
For Jews, the holiest site for prayer is the Western Wall. Revered as one of the last remnants of the Temple Mount, people place slips of paper containing written prayers into the cracks of the limestone wall. Now, several Jewish groups offer to print and place prayers sent to them by email, often for free.
One “Western Wall prayer delivery service” offers to deliver prayers within 30 days for $29, or an “express” 24-hour delivery for $79 (discounted from $99).
Another Jewish charity raises funds by asking for donations, starting from $2 a day, in return for “prayer agents” – often rabbis or Torah scholars – praying at the wall on behalf of the donor for 40 consecutive days.
The most elaborate service has a minimum donation of $3,600 and offers 10 people praying daily, as well as extras including reading the entire Book of Psalms.
Western Wall Prayers was set up by Batya Burd-Oved who says the most common prayer request is in relation to marriage, followed by healing. “But, I’ll tell you, we’re praying right now for someone to pass their bar exam, or for the kids to get a job, or for custody of children,” she said.
“People will pray for anything. Anything they don’t have control over.”
Burd-Oved, a devout Jew, set up the foundation after meeting her former husband just days after he finished 40 days of prayers at the ancient stones. He had been praying for a wife following a string of failed dating attempts.
Convinced by the strength of the practice, Burd-Oved started offering to pray for friends at the site and said 80% got their wishes.
During the past 13 years, the charity has grown to employ close to 40 rabbinical scholars who have little income. A large part of the donation goes to them and their communities. Clients are expected to conduct their own prayers at home for the entire period.
Burd Oved said most people chose the $2 a day option but the $3,600 package also got picked occasionally. “It’s a lot of money. It’s a huge ordeal. Not everybody has that much money to spend.”
She said she believed in her work. “You’re going to laugh, but even though I live in the Old City, I probably hire people for myself seven or eight times a year, because I just see how powerful it is.”
