Last week, my friend Avi asked me to welcome this year's special needs yeshivah students to Israel for their year of learning Torah and doing voluntary work.

    They were on their way to the Kotel.

     I asked them, "Where is G-d?"

     B"H they all knew the answer, "Everywhere!"

     "Then why do we come here to Pray to Him? We come here to pray to Him because in this holy place, He listens closer to our prayers. All of the Land of Israel is holy. When you walk as few as four steps in the Land you get a greater share in the World to Come. This means that in the next world we will have a better place because we walked in the Holy Land.

     "Jerusalem is the most holy city in Israel, and the Kotel borders the Temple Mount which is the holiest place in the world. You are going there now to pray. Hashem is going to listen to your special prayers. Please, when you pray by the Kotel, ask Hashem to free the captives, to protect our soldiers, and all of the Jewish people.

     "Also, when you pray for others, Hashem listens more to your prayers for yourself."