About 40,000 people visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem during Hanukkah, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said on Thursday.

According to the foundation, thousands attended the daily lighting of Hanukkah candles at the Kotel. Among the visitors were Israel’s Chief Rabbis, State Comptroller Micha Lidenstrauss, Education Minister Gideon Saar, Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser, Police Chief Yohanan Danino, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, and many others.

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation noted that there has been a great increase in the number of people who visit the Western Wall and take tours of the Western Wall Tunnels.

The Western Wall rabbi, Rav Shmuel Rabinovich, welcomed the statistics and said that “the increase in the number of visitors to the Western Wall is testament to the deep connection of the Jewish people to the Kotel’s sacred stones and to its legacy.”