Israeli Newspaper Publishes Obama's Western Wall Note

This week Barack Obama left a written prayer in the cracks of the Western Wall, one of Judiasm's holiest sites. The note was nabbed, and published in an Israeli newspaper on Friday.

The Maariv daily paper published the note in its entirety, which read:

"Lord - Protect my family and me," reads the note published in the Maariv daily. "Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will."

The decision to publish the note has already drawn fire, and Shmuel Rabinovitz, the rabbi in charge of the Western Wall, announced his displeasure with the decision, stating that publishing the note intruded on Obama's relationship with God:

"The notes placed between the stones of the Western Wall are between a person and his maker. It is forbidden to read them or make any use of them. The publication "damages the Western Wall and damages the personal, deep part of every one of us that we keep to ourselves," said Rabinovitz.

A second Israeli newspaper, the Yediot Ahronot, also claims to have obtained the note. They however decided not to publish it in respect of Obama's privacy.

Visitors to the 2,000-year-old Western Wall often leave notes with requests and prayers. Obama left his during a pre-dawn visit on Thursday.

In addition to publishing the contents of the note, Maariv also published a photograph. They claim that the note was removed from the wall by a Jewish seminary student immediately after Obama left.

The authenticity of the note is not yet being disputed. The handwriting appears to match a message Obama left Wednesday at Israel's official Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, and the note was written on stationary from the hotel as which he was staying, the King David Hotel.