In a heartwarming display of community and creativity, residents from the independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing factions at spent two weeks working together to create a replica of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

Kobernick-Anchin, which is sponsored by the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Housing Council, is a senior living community with a predominantly Jewish demographic. With the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, rapidly approaching, staff and residents at Kobernick-Anchin constructed the replica of the sacred wall to add a level of depth to the holiday and enhance the experience of those taking part. Kobernick-Anchin's resident rabbi, Barbara Aiello, came up with the idea for the replica wall as part of the Rabbi Mitzvah's Club. Residents in this club are involved in projects that make the world a better place, he said. Their endeavors are characterized by the Hebrew term "tikkum olam," which translates to "repair the world."

Aiello sees the project as a way for residents to feel close to the Jewish traditions that originated in Israel. Historically, the Wailing Wall – also known as the Western Wall and by its Hebrew name, the Kotel – is considered one of the most holy locations in the world.

The wall, which is located on the western side of Temple Mount, is the remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the original Jewish Temple's courtyard. It dates back to 19 BCE, and has been a primary site for prayer and pilgrimage for several centuries. In the Jewish faith, the Wailing Wall is seen as an intermediary between God and humanity because it is the location at which the gates to Heaven are open to every prayer.

"The Western Wall is considered the place to go when you wish to speak to God," said Ken Stock, president of Kobernick-Anchin's Jewish Housing Council.

For this reason, it is common practice for Jewish individuals to write out prayers and place them in the crevices between the stones in the wall.

According to Aiello, the earliest recorded instance of prayers being placed in the Wailing Wall dates back to 1743. In modern times, more than one million prayers are placed in the wall each year. Following Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement on Oct. 8, the prayers placed in the replica wall at Kobernick-Anchin will be sent to Jerusalem, where they will join countless other prayers in the crevices of the sacred wall.