Does anyone know the source for the Midrash that the Kosel remains standing because it was built with gifts from the poor? My wife raised the same question
here. I have found Midrashim that associate west with the place of the Shechina and give that as a reason for the wall escaping destruction, but have not found the source associating it with gifts from the poor.
Eretz Chemda 28 says that the Western Wall / Kosel HaMaaravi was originally built by King David.
ReplyDeleteI sent an e-mail to Aish and received the following response.
As for the story about the angels saying "This Wall, the work of the poor, shall never be destroyed" -- a book called “Agadot Eretz Yisrael” by Ze’ev Vilnai records and notes that it is "a legend." Three other books mention this story -- see "HaBayit Hayehudi" by R' Aharon Zakai (IV pg. 310), "HaRovah HaYehudi" by Ahron Bir (pg. 1), "Yerushalayim" by Yitzchak Shapiro (p. 183). On the website page, I have noted that this is "a popular Jewish legend."
So there is no legitimate source that the Kosel HaMaaravi was built by the poor.