For those who are not ‘in the know’, they are not cleaning the stones of the Kosel, but the cherry picker is used to permit rabbonim and engineers to inspect each and every stone ahead of Rosh Hashanah and the Tishrei yomim tovim. Kosel Rav Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz explained that it is imperative that the stones are inspected twice annually, before Tishrei and before Pesach to make absolutely certain nothing is loose — citing his responsibility to avoid a catastrophe chas v’sholom.

The rav stated that “hundreds of thousands” of mispallalim will visit the Kosel from now until the end of Tishrei, demanding the engineering inspection, which he explained is carried out with plastic tools, not metallic objects. In addition, the kvitlach are cleared away and taken for burial.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)