Sunday, June 7, will mark 59 years since Mordechai “Motta” Gur, commander of the IDF paratroopers, declared the words that would become etched in Israeli history: “Har Habayit b’yadeinu” (“The Temple Mount is in our hands”), when Israeli forces reached and took control of Jerusalem’s Old City during the Six Day War.
On that date in 1967, the Western Wall was reunited with the Jewish people, becoming accessible once again after generations of separation. To coincide with the 60th anniversary of the reunification of the city next year, the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum will be opening the first large-scale exhibition of its kind, dedicated, in its entirety, to the Western Wall.
Eyes on the Wall, curated by Dr. Shimon Lev, will offer an unprecedented exploration of one of the most important and enduring symbols in Jewish history, exploring the wall’s story across nearly two millennia through the people who gave it meaning: worshipers, visitors, dreamers, pilgrims, and, in modern times – photographers.
To that end, the museum is reaching out to the public, hoping that family albums and private archives will expand the Western Wall’s visual archive.
While the Western Wall stands today as one of the most recognizable and photographed sites in the world, the historical visual record of earlier decades remains fragmentary. Many of the most intimate and revealing images of the wall – capturing not only grand historical events but also everyday life – may still lie hidden in private homes, tucked away in family albums, attics, and forgotten boxes.
“Although the exhibition will explore the Western Wall from King Herod until the present day, we are especially interested in receiving photographs from the time of the first photographs through to, and including, 1968,” said Lev.
Every photo of the Western Wall is important
“We’re asking the public to join us and search through personal archives, and rediscover photographs, postcards, and visual materials that may shed light on these formative years. Every image, whether formal or fleeting, has the potential to enrich our shared understanding of the Western Wall as both a physical site and its documentation and a living symbol shaped by generations.”
A recent and moving example illustrates the importance of such discoveries. Dr. A.O. Freedman arrived in Jerusalem from Montreal in 1920, volunteering his know-how and time as a senior physician. During his time in the city, he documented his experiences through a remarkable photographic album.
His images capture time spent with friends, many of whom went on to become medical pioneers in pre-state Israel and in the modern state, with the likes of Chaim Weizmann, Dr. Abraham Albert Ticho, and Dr. Israel Jacob Kligler, as well as dignitaries such as then-British colonial secretary Winston Churchill, and Herbert Samuel, the first high commissioner for Palestine.
They also capture the quieter, everyday moments of life in Jerusalem. Together, these photographs form a vivid portrait of a city in transition, where scientific circles, public ceremonies, and daily encounters are intertwined. And on one such page – are also photographs of the Western Wall.
These photographs will now be shown in the exhibition, and, as such, a personal snapshot becomes a building block in the national visual record of the Western Wall.
The photograph album was found by Freedman’s grandson quite by accident. Last year, Prof. David O. Freedman was back in Montreal visiting his childhood home, where his father still lives. The house, in fact, was the same house that his grandfather had moved into in 1939.
“One day, when rummaging through the basement of my parents’ home to find some family photographs, I found this album. I felt like I struck gold,” Freedman recalls excitedly.
“This box of photographs, including this album, had likely been undisturbed since at least 1961, when my grandfather, Dr. A.O. Freedman, died. The first page was clearly dated in ink, August 1920, and all the photos in the album were in near-perfect condition, with details of people and places.
“As I turned the pages, I realized I was looking at extraordinary images of Jerusalem, its people, and daily life from over a century ago. I immediately understood their historical value. Some were unique photographs of friends away together on excursions, many of whom went on to become medical pioneers in pre-state and in the modern State of Israel.
“There are photos from everyday life in Jerusalem as well as wonderful photographs of the Western Wall, in which you can see women praying beside men.”
A.O. Freedman later returned to Canada, where he founded the General Jewish Hospital in Montreal. His legacy continued through his son, Prof. Samuel O. Freedman, who served as dean of the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University and later as provost, and through his grandsons.
Bram Freedman serves as president and CEO of the Jewish General Hospital Foundation, and David O. Freedman is professor emeritus of Infectious Diseases from the University of Alabama. Freedman admits, “We all knew A.O. Freedman, my grandfather, had spent time in Palestine in a medical capacity in the 1920s, but there were few details.”
For the family, the discovery of the album shed light on their grandfather’s time in Jerusalem. However, recognizing its historical value, the family chose to gift the album to the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum, ensuring its preservation and making it accessible to the wider public.
Eilat Lieber, director and chief curator of the museum, was grateful for the gift entrusted to the museum collection.
“The album now ceases to be only personal but becomes part of the shared story of Jerusalem. It becomes a bridge between private memory and public history – between a single life and a whole city’s soul.
“To give such an album is to offer a gift of perspective, continuity, and wonder. It ensures that future generations can see not only how Jerusalem looked, but how it lived – through the eyes of someone who truly saw it. And for this we thank the Freedman family.”
With the call to the general public to examine the basements and attics of their grandparents’ homes, Lev hopes that the museum will receive more photographs like that of A.O. Freedman’s, uncovering additional visual testimonies, images that capture the Western Wall during a period of profound change.
“There is something deeply moving in the moment when an intimate private photograph transcends its original purpose and becomes an important historical testimony – in this case, not only preserving the stones of the Western Wall, but the human experience of encountering it across generations.”
For inquiries and submissions, contact: external@tod.org.il