JERUSALEM, July 27 (UPI) -- A Jewish seminarian apologized Sunday for taking Barack Obama's prayer note from Jerusalem's Western Wall.
The man, identified only by his first initial, confessed on Israel's Channel 2 television to taking the Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful's prayer note, The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.
"I'm sorry. It was a kind of prank," he said. "I hope he wasn't hurt. We all believe he will take the presidency."
The Jerusalem Post reported that the note said: "Lord -- Protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will."
The rabbi who oversees the Wall called the note's removal "sacrilegious," CNN reported.
"This sacrilegious action deserves sharp condemnation and represents a desecration of the holy site," said Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz.
The Illinois senator visited the Wall Thursday and left the note in the cracks of the monument, as is the custom.
The notes are supposed to be removed twice a year, on the eve of Jewish New Year and Passover, and placed in a repository "to keep them hidden from human eyes," he said.
