Crumbling stone in the Western Wall exposes Jerusalem’s religious fractures

Erosion is damaging the 2,000-year-old site – but restoration plans have been complicated by its sacred statusIt was an otherwise unremarkable occurrence – a lone stone, possibly weakened by erosion, cracked, slipped and plummeted to earth.But this stone was not unremarkable. It had been placed there centuries ago as part of a long stretch of limestone blocks in Jerusalem called the Western Wall – known also as the Wailing Wall – which includes remnants of the Temple Moun