The Western Wall Heritage Foundation has begun playing a recorded message in several languages at Jerusalem's holy site a few minutes before Shabbat, calling on visitors to honor the sanctity of the Jewish day of rest.

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The message is accompanied by the traditional "Shalom Aleichem" melody and joins the siren announcing the arrival of the Sabbath.

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"Dear guests, welcome to the Western Wall," the message says. "In a few minutes, Shabbat will be started. Please respect our traditions and refrain from taking pictures and from using cell phones in the Western Wall plaza. Shabbat Shalom!"

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The announcement is delivered over the public address system in Hebrew, English and Russian. According to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which operates the site, it is mainly directed at tourists and visitors "who are unaware of the custom of observing the Jewish Sabbath and asks them to honor the holy site and avoid using items which are forbidden during Shabbat and violate the site's sanctity."

An official at the Western Wall Heritage Foundation explained that "the sanctity of Shabbat must be applied to the Western Wall, as a holy site, in a pleasant and respectable manner." In addition, the official said, visitors will receive leaflets explaining the need to respect Shabbat.

Announcing Shabbat about 20 minutes before its arrival on Friday afternoon is an acceptable custom in ultra-Orthodox populations across the country. The start of the holy day is usually marked by a siren lasting several seconds, but in recent years some places have begun playing Shabbat songs through loudspeakers.