The recent revelation that the CIA once searched for the Ark of the Covenant raises an intriguing question: Why isn't Israel actively searching for Temple artifacts like the Menorah, the Table of Showbread, and especially the Ark of the Covenant?

According to recently published CIA documents from 2000, the agency conducted an experiment in 1988 where a medium was given coordinates of an undisclosed item. The medium claimed the location housed the Ark of the Covenant, protected by supernatural forces.

This revelation, published in the Daily Mail, resembles the plot of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. However, it raises serious questions about why these invaluable Jewish artifacts have never become targets for Israeli archaeological missions.

Why hasn't Israel conducted significant archaeological operations around Jerusalem to verify legends about these items being hidden before the destruction of the First Temple? Additionally, why hasn't Israel approached the Vatican to determine if some Second Temple artifacts brought to Rome by Titus might be stored in their vaults?

Several prominent rabbis offered their perspectives:

Rabbi Dr. Ronen Lubitch, rabbi of Nir Etzion and president of the Torah and Work Movement, believes Israel has "enough conflicts and fronts in the Middle East" without opening another with the Vatican, which represents over a billion believers worldwide.

Rabbi David Stav, rabbi of Shoham and chairman of Tzohar, noted that throughout Jewish history, many have attempted to find Temple artifacts, but "there was never such a halachic obligation" to push the state toward such an initiative.

Rabbi Chaim Navon points out that while these publications are dubious, if there were genuine information suggesting the location of these artifacts, "it would obviously be incumbent on the state to lead these searches."

The article concludes that these ancient Temple artifacts will reappear when the Jewish people advance spiritually, rather than through archaeological expeditions.

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A remarkable archaeological discovery near Beit Shemesh has unveiled a 5,000-year-old settlement that provides unprecedented insights into ancient Israel's first steps toward urbanization. The site features one of the earliest known temples in the Judean Lowlands, containing dozens of pristine ritual vessels and among the region's earliest known pottery kilns.

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have uncovered a 5,000-year-old settlement that offers rare evidence of early urbanization in ancient Israel. The discovery, made at the Horvat Hushim site during preparations for expanding the western "Brosh" industrial zone near Beit Shemesh, centers around an extraordinary public building believed to have served ceremonial purposes.

Inside the structure, researchers found a chamber containing about 40 perfectly preserved vessels, including numerous miniature ceremonial items. "It is interesting that these many pots and juglets were placed here just shortly before the entire site was abandoned forever," said excavation directors Ariel Shatil, Maayan Hemed, and Danny Ben-Ayon of the Israel Antiquities Authority. "You can literally imagine the people who put down this ware and left it all here. It is not known what happened in this room later, but there are signs of burning, and vessels that fell on top of each other. Laboratory examination of their former contents of the vessels using different scientific methods will shed additional light on the site: We will be able to tell if they contained oil, water, wheat – or perhaps they were specifically for exotic oils or other substances."

"The size of this structure, its broad walls, the benches inside it and other variables indicate that it is an important and exceptional structure with a public function – perhaps a temple," the excavation directors explained. "We know almost no public buildings in Israel from this ancient period and earlier. This is probably one of the earliest temples ever discovered in the Judean Lowlands."

Near the main structure, archaeologists discovered an enclosed area featuring large standing stones arranged in rows. "The standing stones were erected even before this enclosed public building was erected," said Dr. Yitzhak Paz, an Early Bronze Age specialist at the Israel Antiquities Authority. "Their presence promises to be instructive of the socio-political process involved in the founding of the cultic service in Hurvat Husham – it seems that originally there was an open cultic activity area for the general public which then transformed into ritual activity in an enclosed compound with more controlled access. This development process on the site, along with other processes, attests to an increase in social complexity."

The site, first discovered in 2021 during excavations led by Marion Zindel and Natan Ben-Ari, has been under extensive investigation for the past three and a half years. The excavation also revealed two pottery kilns for vessel production, ranking among the earliest ever found in Israel. "The site uncovered in Hurvat Husham is exceptional not only because of its size, but because it reveals to us some of the first characteristics of the transition from village life to urban life," the excavation directors explained. "The site teaches us that about 5,000 years ago, the first steps were already taken towards the development of an urban society in the Judean Lowlands. A few generations later, we already see large cities in the area, surrounded by a wall, with palaces and other buildings – such as at the site of Tel Yarmouth, which is in this site's range of vision."

The Early Bronze Age, roughly 5,000 years ago, represented a pivotal moment in ancient Israel's history. This era witnessed significant population growth and the emergence of the first hierarchical complex society. These changes manifested in ambitious public construction projects, including defensive walls, fortifications, and religious and administrative buildings. The period also saw the development of specialized crafts and extensive trade networks reaching Egypt, Syria, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia.

According to Israel Antiquities Authority Director Eli Escusido, "The Land of Israel, due to its nature and its geographical location, was a fertile ground for the development of ancient civilizations. The Hurvat Husham site uncovered by the researchers of the Israel Antiquities Authority, reveals another important piece in the puzzle of urban development in our region."

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On the eve of Tisha B'Av, we find ourselves grappling with a similar contemporary reality. An external enemy has dealt us an unbearable blow and continues to threaten our home. Yet, as history teaches us, the greatest threat to our existence is not from the outside, but from the division within ourselves. It is threatening to tear apart Israeli society and the ties and defense systems we've woven over the years with our allies, primarily the US.

Terrorist organizations observed the internal rifts in our society before October 7 and identified the security weakness this division created. As grief often does, the pain led to temporary unity immediately afterward, but the cracks have reappeared, and here we are, divided once again. The problem worsens when our internal struggles are broadcast to the world. The world is watching – not just our enemies seeking points of weakness, but our allies as well.

As someone living between Israel and the US, I can say with a heavy heart that even our steadfast and good ally is not turning a blind eye to the general chaos, and this impression worries me personally. I'm concerned about the day when the great US will start reconsidering its relationship with us and when it stops believing there's a future with us. We've already seen this happening in the Democratic Party over the years. Even those who prefer to bury their heads in the sand and think the world should mind its own business and leave us to ours will one day have to understand that in case of a multi-front war – Israel will need its allies by its side.

However you look at it, internal strife doesn't earn us any points or bode well. To the outside observer, it doesn't matter if the reason is political, moral, or ideological. You already know the solution to these nightmare scenarios. The word "unity" may already sound worn out to many of us, but today, it's more relevant than ever – not just as an idea, but as a course of action, as a lifeline for the country's existence as a lesson from the past.

If there's a beautiful example of putting aside differences for a greater shared goal, it's our soldiers. On the battlefield, there are no sides. Everyone sacrifices themselves and works together for the same goal. We must be worthy of their sacrifice and not return to the events of Yom Kippur 2023 in Dizengoff Square.

Words create reality, and change begins with actions. Each of us has a part and responsibility in this matter. Tisha B'Av must remind us that there's no guarantee of Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel. Our stability depends on our unity; only then can we face the challenges and secure our future as a state and a people. We must learn from the past. Let's not lose the third temple as well.

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A team of Israeli researchers has discovered a small piece of red-dyed fabric in a Judean Desert cave, offering unprecedented insights into ancient textile production and biblical references to scarlet dye. The 3,800-year-old textile, measuring less than two centimeters (0.8 inches), was found to be colored using dye extracted from oak scale insects, which experts believe corresponds to the "scarlet worm" mentioned in the Bible.

The groundbreaking discovery was made during excavations in the Cave of Skulls as part of a broader initiative to protect heritage finds in the Judean Desert from antiquities theft. The research team, comprising experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority, Bar-Ilan University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, published their findings in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

Naama Sukenik, curator of the Organic Material Collection at the Israel Antiquities Authority, explained the significance of the find, "In ancient times, the dye was produced from the female scale insect, which lives on the kermes oak tree. Collecting these kermes was done in a very short window of time – one month out of the year, in the summer, after the female laid her eggs but before they hatched –  when the amount of dye was greatest."

The rarity and difficulty of harvesting these insects contributed to the prestige associated with the scarlet color they produced. The biblical term "scarlet worm" appears 25 times in scripture, often alongside other highly prized colors like blue (tekhelet) and purple (argaman).

Professor Zohar Amar of Bar-Ilan University noted the advanced zoological knowledge demonstrated in ancient texts, "The biblical association of this color with a living creature demonstrates impressive zoological knowledge, considering that female scale insects lack legs and wings, to the extent that some Greek and Roman naturalists even mistook them for plant granules."

Using advanced analytical techniques, including High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), the researchers identified the specific species of scale insect used to create the dye. Sukenik stated, "We can determine with high probability that in ancient times, the textile was dyed using a species of Kermes vermilio, which produces kermesic acid, imparting the distinctive red hue."

Interestingly, the Kermes vermilio species is not native to Israel but is common in other Mediterranean regions. This suggests the existence of extensive trade networks during the Middle Bronze Age, as noted by Uri Davidovich from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, "Although it is difficult to know how this textile arrived in this desert cave, it is significant evidence of ancient knowledge in dyeing wool fibers using scale insects to achieve the red color as early as the Middle Bronze Age – about 3,800 years ago."

The discovery provides tangible evidence of a sophisticated textile industry in the ancient world, bridging the gap between written sources and archaeological findings. Sukenik added, "The rare textile is a testament to broad international commercial networks functioning already at this time and indicates the presence of an elite society."

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The possibility that the menorah that was used in the Second Temple in Jerusalem is hidden deep in the cellars of the Vatican has excited researchers, rabbis, and adventurers for many generations. It is, after all, the menorah that was used by the Temple priests for the daily candle-lighting ceremony and in which the Hanukkah miracle took place (although most likely it was one similar to it), that gave birth to a tradition that continues to this day. 

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Let's jump to the latest development in this 2,000-year-old story. Recently, the Chief Rabbi of Safed Shmuel Eliyahu said that his son, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, was contacted by an Italian parliamentarian, whose name was not mentioned, with the most unusual suggestion: to jumpstart the process of the return of the Temple vessels, including the menorah, looted by the Romans from Jerusalem after the destruction of the Second Temple, which – he said – were indeed in the Vatican. 

This surely would have made headlines had not many attempts been made in the past to locate the vessels and substantiate the claims about their whereabouts. 

For instance, in 2002, in a meeting between then-Israeli Ambassador to the Vatican Oded Ben-HUr and Pope John Paul II, the two agreed to document all Jewish art objects kept in the Vatican. Hebrew University researchers, who were in charge of the project, examined the possibility of the menorah being kept there as well but found no evidence on the matter. 

Research on the carved menorah on the Arch of Titus in Rome, however, is more established and is no less fascinating. 

The prevailing assumption among researchers is that the famous stone relief, which depicts the menorah and other vessels carried by the Roman soldiers on their triumphal procession from Jerusalem to Rome in 71 CE, was created based on the real gold seven-lamped candelabra. Other items looted from the Temple include the Gold Trumpets, the fire pans for removing the ashes from the altar, and the Table of Showbread.

The candlestick, however, that was looted from Jerusalem, might not have been the original menorah used by the Temple priests in their service. It could have been one of the replacement menorahs that were stored in the Temple in case of malfunction or disruption. 

This hypothesis is based on the fact that the appearance of the Arch of Titus menorah does not match the description of the menorah in Jewish sources. For instance, the base of the arch menorah is different in that it has three levels that depict various sea and dragon-like features, which was not the case with the original, as any images of animals or creatures were associated with the sin of idolatry. 

The first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog hypothesized that the original base of the menorah could have broken off and been lost on the way to Rome, and therefore, local craftsmen had to reconstruct it their way, which is why the arch menorah was carved differently.  

Scholars have also pointed out that the language of another source, a Genesis Rabbah midrash that discusses the destruction of the Second Temple, suggests that the menorah that was taken by the Romans was indeed a replacement one, as do the descriptions of the spoils by historian Flavius Josephus. 

Many have tried to trace the movements of the menorah that was taken by the Roman soldiers. First, it was deposited in the Roman Temple of Peace, built 20 years earlier in honor of Pax, the Roman goddess of peace. Did the menorah survive the fire that destroyed the temple in 192 CE? And if it did, was it moved? After all, many a conqueror invaded Rome and looted it over the centuries.

the centuries.

One such researcher is Arnon Segal, who in his book "Habayit" attempts to retrieve the movements of the candelabra, starting 130 years after the fire in the Roman Temple of Peace. 

"Some say that the menorah was moved to Constantinople (Istanbul), during the time of Constantine the Great in 324 CE, when he moved and renamed the capital of the empire," Segal said. "Others hypothesize that the menorah resided in the Temple of Peace in Rome, until the Vandal conquest of 455 CE. So these barbarian invaders could have stolen the menorah and melted it."

Another possibility is that "the menorah remained intact and that Justinian the Great, who lived in the sixth century, even returned it to Jerusalem and placed it in a mighty church that he built, and whose remains are under the Batei Mahseh Square in the Old City. 

Others claim that "in 410 CE the menorah made its way to Carcassonne in the south of France, after the Visigoths, barbarian tribes from the Scandinavian region, looted Rome and took its treasures to their capital, Carcassonne.

"According to this theory, after about a hundred years, the Swabians looted Carcassonne and took the menorah to their new capital, Carthage, in North Africa." From there, according to this hypothesis, "the Byzantine commander Belisarius, who conquered Carthage in 550 CE, took the menorah back to Constantinople.

"Others claim that the movements of the menorah did not stop there and that during the First Crusade, in 1099, the Crusaders returned it to its former place on the Temple Mount, where it was kept by the Knights Templar. With the conquest of the city by Saladin, the retreating Knights Templar took the menorah with them to Acre, and from there to Cyprus. In the end," according to this hypothesis, "the soldiers of Philip IV, king of France, returned the candelabra, in the 13th century, back to the pope's cellars in Rome."

The Vatican has denied time and again that it has any looted Temple vessels in its possessions. As mentioned above, even if a menorah is kept there, it is not the one originally used in the Temple, nor is it the one that was used by the Hasmoneas in 164 BCE (234 before the destruction of the Second Temple) in which the Hanukkah miracle occurred. According to the First Book of Maccabees, the Temple was also looted by the Greeks, including the menorah, which forced the Hasmoneans to light oil in seven iron skewers. 

What happened then to the original menorah after the destruction of the Second Temple and where is it today? Both Josephus and the Talmud suggest that the Temple vessels, including the candelabra, were buried during the siege in hidden caves deep underground (as had been the vessels of the First Temple hundreds of years earlier). 

Roman soldiers, who tried to find the menorah, only located the replicas and not the candelabra that was used by the priests for the daily candle-lighting service. 

Over the course of history, several more individuals attempted to locate the menorah. For instance, in 1911, Montagu Brownlow Parker, a British aristocrat and army officer, bribed most of the Waqf guards on the Temple Mount and spent several nights digging, but without success. When he was discovered, he fled the country by the skin of his teeth. 

In 1981, then-Rabbi of the Western Wall Yehuda Getz too attempted to locate the treasures, especially the Ark of the Covenant. Based on Kabbalistic writings, he uncovered a large cave in the Western Wall Tunnels, where the Holy of Holies of the Temple is said to have been located. The search ended in a violent clash between Jews and Muslims. Then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin ordered for the opening that was broken through by Getz to be sealed, and the relative quiet in the area returned. 

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Throughout the generations, depictions of the Temple vessels, the menorah in particular, were used to decorate synagogues, mosaic floors, tombs, and Jewish homes, including to this day.

The same is true of the Jewish community of Gaza. Up until 40 years ago, before Israel withdrew from Gaza, one of the pillars of the local Great Mosque bore inscriptions in Hebrew and depicted a menorah, a shofar, and an etrog fruit – evidence of the Jewish existence in Gaza during the days of the Talmud.

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Israeli mentalist intends to reveal the location of the Ark of the Covenant, Britain's Daily Star tabloid reports.

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The Star ran the latest Geller intrigue as its Sunday cover story under the headline "Uri Geller and the Temple of Spoons."

According to the Star, Geller posted on Twitter that he knew where the Ark was and when he released the information, it would be "an earth shattering historical tsunami and an archeological and a theological earthquake."

Hey guys and girls go and get this Sunday paper tomorrow this cover will become a classic and will probably sell on EBay for a small fortune! this is my 9th front page in the past 1 and half year but by far the best! pic.twitter.com/1Ab2WnQ5Vp

— UriGeller.eth (@theurigeller) January 8, 2022

Geller posted a picture of the tabloid cover, urging followers to snatch copies before they were gone, as they would "probably sell on eBay for a small fortune!"

The mentalist noted that the Star cover was his ninth front page in the past year and a half.

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The years of archaeological excavations Israel has conducted at the Temple Mount have yielded no proof that the Temple ever existed in Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Monday evening in an interview to Al Jazeera.

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When asked about current tensions in Jerusalem, Shtayyeh said that Jerusalem was at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

"Since 1967 and the occupation of the West Bank, Israel has carried out a series of excavations underneath Al-Aqsa Mosque which haven't proved any connection whatsoever to the hall [Temple] or anything similar," Shtayyeh claimed.

Shtayyeh went on to tell the interviewer that since 1967, Israel has been implementing a plan known as 'Jerusalem 2020,' which he claimed is designed to reduce the Palestinian population in the capital to some 19%.

"This has failed completely," he said. "Palestinians make up 40% of the population of Jerusalem. When it comes to Al-Aqsa, Israel seriously wants to divide the compound in terms of space and schedules."

When asked if he thought that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted an escalation in violence as a way of torpedoing the nascent Bennett-Lapid unity government, Shtayyeh said, "The US intervened on the Sheikh Jarrah matter and to keep the status quo in place. Jordan, Qatar, and other Arab states want the Palestinian arena in general and Al-Aqsa Mosque in particular to stay calm. The war in Gaza was a personal matter for Netanyahu and now he is linking Jerusalem to his personal interests because he wants to stay in power."

"Any escalation in is Netanyahu's interest," Shtayyeh said, adding that as far as the Palestinians were concerned, it made no difference whether Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett, or anyone else served as prime minister of Israel, because "without the establishment of a Palestinian state, the conflict will continue."

Shtayyeh spoke to Al Jazeera while on a visit to Qatar and after a meeting with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and said that the two had discussed Qatari aid to the Palestinians and ways of solidifying the restored calm in the Gaza Strip.

"The world is without question showing unprecedented support for the Palestinians. In a meeting, the director of Facebook told me that the hashtag 'Sheikh Jarrah' had been shared 76 million times," he said.

Shtayyeh also said that if Israel would allow Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem to participate in PA legislative elections, PA President Mahmoud Abbas would set a new date for them to be held. Shtayyeh said that the PA was pouring $140 million into the Gaza Strip each month, and had renewed the payment of salaries of 25,000 government workers in Gaza.

When asked about reconciliation attempts in Cairo, Shtayyeh said he hoped the rift between Fatah and Hamas would come to an end.

"The Palestinians need to work together and not decide on a war or on peace separately," he declared.

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On Sunday, US and Israeli officials attended the opening ceremony of a 2,000-year-old underground route, known as the "Pilgrimage Road," which led to the Jewish temple, where Al-Aqsa Mosque is now located. During the event, US Ambassador David Friedman symbolically sledgehammered through a ceremonial cardboard wall to unveil the "pilgrimage road."

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Wednesday called it a "bold and irresponsible move" that seeks "to alter the historic and legal status" of east Jerusalem. The OIC reiterated its position that east Jerusalem was occupied Palestinian territory.

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Reut Vilf of the ‎City of David Foundation said the ‎coin, discovered ‎in the sewage system ‎running ‎beneath ancient ‎Jerusalem, dates back to the year 69 ‎C.E. – the fourth year ‎of the Jewish revolt against ‎Rome and the year in ‎which the rebels despaired.‎

According to Israeli media reports, a cache of ‎bronze coins from that time was found in 2014 in a ‎village near Jerusalem, and more were unearthed in a ‎cave by the Temple Mount in 2018, from the second and ‎fourth years of the rebellion.‎

The coin found last week bears an inscription ‎ancient Hebrew lettering reading "For the Redemption ‎of Zion" and a depiction of a chalice. ‎

Its other side depicts the Four Species used in ‎the Sukkot holiday – the citron fruit, palm frond, and myrtle and willow branches – and the words "Year Four," ‎referring to the final year of rebellion against the ‎Romans.‎

‎"The coin was found exactly in the same place that ‎Jews had been hiding in the drainage channel under ‎the street," Vilf noted. Evidence of the rebels' ‎attempt to hide under the city includes intact oil ‎lamps and ceramic pots that were found whole in the ‎sewer itself.‎

Interpreting the inscription on the coin, she said, ‎‎"Freedom is an immediate thing, while redemption is ‎a process. It could attest to their understanding ‎that the end was near."‎

Eli Shukron, an archaeologist with the Israel ‎Antiquities Authority, said that in all likelihood, ‎the coin could have fallen into the drainage system ‎through cracks of the stone-paved road.

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