when a rational explanation will be outweighed by divine intervention

Is the Western Wall falling down?
Engineers try to figure out why a big stone fell from the holy site

EVER since the Roman army tried to topple it in the 1st century, knocking a few slabs from the top, the Western Wall in Jerusalem has remained largely intact. A relic of the second Jewish temple, most of which the Romans did destroy, the wall attracts thousands of Jewish worshippers each day. One called Daniella Goldberg was standing in front of it when a big slab of the wall came crashing down next to her on July 23rd.

Ms Goldberg was unharmed, but engineers were left wondering if worse is to come. Several explanations have been put forward as to why the slab broke off. Rainwater erosion and recent seismic activity may have loosened the wall’s stones. A study done in 2014 found that some parts of the wall were eroding much faster than others. Vegetation growing in the wall’s cracks could be exacerbating the problem. In 2004 pieces of the wall fell off, injuring a worshipper, in part because birds stuck metal objects into the cracks, causing erosion.

It will take more intensive surveys, using laser measurements and underground sonar, to determine the exact cause of the falling stone and the risk that more will follow. In the past, efforts have been made to shore up the wall using special adhesives and concrete. But more extensive work would have to be co-ordinated with the Muslim religious authority, controlled by Jordan and known as the Waqf. It runs the Haram al-Sharif compound (known to Israelis as the Temple Mount) on the other side of the wall. Muslims consider the Western Wall part of the al-Aqsa mosque.

Tension between Israel and the Palestinians is high, such that the director of the al-Aqsa mosque, Omar al-Kiswani, felt it necessary to deny that anyone on his side pushed the rock that nearly hit Ms Goldberg. Yousef Natshe, the Waqf’s chief archaeologist, says publicly that he will not co-operate with the Israelis on fixing the wall. Privately, though, Mr Natshe and Israeli archaeologists exchange information so that each party can carry out work on its side.

As engineers search for earthly solutions, rabbis in Jerusalem see a warning from God. They think He objects to plans to allow men and women to pray together at the wall, near where the stone fell. “For the stone shall cry out of the wall,” cautions one rabbi, quoting Habakkuk, a rather gloomy prophet.