Jerusalem - Jews too lazy or busy to visit Jerusalem's Western Wall are sending their prayers by SMS to a rabbi who places a printed copy in the holy site's stone crevasses.

"Not everyone has the means or time to get there," said Gal Wagner on Wednesday, an official from the company that began offering the service two weeks ago for five shekels (about R8).

The service is a hi-tech alternative for Jews who traditionally put prayers or wishes in the Old City's Western Wall in the hope they will come true.

So far 30 000 text messages have been received.

The messages are received on a computer, collated and then faxed to a rabbi at the Western Wall who is paid by Wagner's company to tear off each message and insert it between the stones of the ancient wall. - Reuters

• This article was originally published on page 5 of Cape Times on September 25, 2003