THE HIDDEN VESSELS OF THE TEMPLE
by Moshe Notzar
(Yibane HaMikdash 108, originally published: "Yom HaShishi" 8 Av 5756)
"When the Beit HaMikdash will be rebuilt" is the source of vitality for Jews throughout the generations.
The first task for the Jews of Israel, upon hearing the Shofar of Mashiach, will be how to find the Vessels of the Temple ASAP. According to our information, the first probable place to look is...
The National Museum in Akkaba, Jordan.
The lost Temple Vessels are not there, but the treasurer of the museum can point the seekers to the scroll that refers to the "Secret Tunnel", that according to Sefer HaHashmonaim, the prophet Yirmiyahu hid the Vessels of the First Beit Mikdash including the Ark, the Alter, and many more Vessels.
Before the first Israeli diplomats arrived at the hotel in Akkaba for the secret meetings with King Hussein, American Jews tried to reach agreements with the National Museum's management that would enable the treasurer of the museum to open the Copper Scroll secretly brought to their treasures by two Bedouin shepherds. They found them on one of the mountainous valleys near Akkaba.
This ties one mountain in Jordan with the lost Temple Vessels. Rav Menachem Borstein, one of the great experts in the subject, reveals that the discussions with the Hashemite Kingdom regarding the Temple Vessels were until now so extensive , that he himself, as well as all involved, are amazed that nothing leaked to the media all those years.
This was another type of "secrecy" regarding the hiding place of the Vessels. "It appears that it was just not meant for this to leak outside," say Rav Borstein.
One of the less known sources about the Temple Vessels is the Sefer HaHashmonaim. There it is written explicitly that the prophet Yirmiyahu hid the First Temple Vessels, the Ark, and the Alter "on the mountain that Moshe Rabeinu saw." This definition has been the subject of investigation for hundreds of years, since Moshe Rabeinu, who saw the mountain, did not write or hint it in the Torah.
Many researchers identify the mountain to be Mount Nevo, and even now one mountain thought to be Mount Nevo has a beautiful entrance with floors that have descriptions and pictures of the Temple Vessels. It appears, according to Rav Borstein, that the heads of this church considered this to be the mountain that Yirmiyahu hid the Temple Vessels.
A HIGHLY PRESSURED JOURNEY
Over the generations, many great Jewish researchers have unsuccessfully searched for the Temple Vessels in Jordan. The first sign of life came twenty-five years ago when two Bedouin shepherds came to the National Museum in Akkaba and told the treasurer about the scroll they found in one of the mountainous caves. The treasurers of the museum received a copper scroll and were afraid to open it and tear up its contents, lest they open it and it would completely disintegrate.
Since the scroll was copper, it was possible to read its lines from its back side. The then manager almost fell from his chair when he read the text. Only two years later had the scroll reached his hands, and he was privileged to announce that in the few lines he was able to read, he had a detailed description of how to get to the.. Jewish Temple Vessels, and that the author gives a detailed design of the Vessels themselves.
Once the scroll was discovered by Jewish scholars, tremendous pressure fell on the Hashemite Kingdom, especially on the management of the National Museum in Akkaba., to open the scroll to Jewish scholars and to allow them, possibly, to go up to the end of the last thread leading to the secret tunnel.
A delegation of Jewish scholars secretly arrived in Akkaba and tried to speak heart to heart to the Jordanians and show them the importance the Jewish People places on the lost Vessels. The Jordanians got the message; they need no explanation. They were aware of the rare treasure that they happened to have, but they tried to convince the Jewish scholars that if they tried to open the scroll, it would crumble in their hands, and no one would benefit.
Jews are Jews, and regarding the Beit HaMikdash, they certainly will forgo no effort to find a solution. Prof. Kandi, an expert for decades in decoding hidden and ancient scrolls, was hired, and he suggest the Jordanians slice it systematically, and he waged his honor in the method's success. In the end, the managers of the Jordanian National Museum entrusted the scrolls to Prof. Kandi. Using a special device, he succeeded to slice the scroll and identify 90% of the text.
DIFFERING OPINIONS
The scroll is 2.40 meters long and 28 cm wide. The letters resembled Ancient Hebrew, and every line guides the readers to the density of the cave with precise description of the Vessels hidden there. The only thing the author did not reveal was ... where the tunnel was.
"Everything was written there, except the exact place of the tunnel," Rav Borstein wrings his hands and testifies, that before the scroll was opened, the Jewish scholars were hoping to find the path to the Temple Vessels. This hope was ended.
Rav Borstein continues and says that the scholars also disagree as to when the scroll was written. Some claimed that the Temple Vessels described there were the Vessels prepared by Bar Kochba for the Third Temple, still to be built. Bar Kochba, who many claimed was the Mashiach, prepared all the Temple Vessels. After he realized that the Beit HaMikdash would not be built in his lifetime, he hid the Vessels and saw fit to document their location in a special scroll that he also hid in a cave, until the Bedouin shepherds found it.
Many scholars attribute the scroll to the Temple Vessels that the prophet Yirmiyahu buried, and the subject is thus the original Temple Vessels. If they succeed in the end to decode from the scroll the location of the tunnel, it will be possible to reach the actual Vessels.
BAGHDAD'S INPUT
Rav Borstein him self has tried his own ways to reveal the Vessels. His system of connections is secretive, but the letter he pulls out shows that they must be extensive.
The letter that he receive 13 years ago is sign by the heads of the National Museum in ... Baghdad. Yes, this is in the Baghdad of Saddam Hussein. According to sources that Rav Borstein found in Cabalistic literature, the First Temple Vessels are hidden in Baghdad. "The most natural thing was that I directly contact the Iraqi National Museum and try to clarify if they know any details of this subject."
To his Rav Borstein's surprise, within a few days he received an important letter which included ... an invitation to visit the museum in Iraq. The treasurer informed him that he has many objects and Vessels for the First Jewish Temple Period, "and I will be very happy if you honor me with a visit to Baghdad to identify the objects," writes the Iraqi treasurer.
When we asked Rav Borstein if he accepted the invitation, he requested to
leave the question in "no comment".
CORRECTION AND LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Correction: In Vo. 1, No. 8, as statement was attributed to "Rav David Liur". It should read "Rav Dov Liur"
Subject: chabad homepage
b"h
I would just like to suggest that when you refer to the writings of lubavitcher Rebbeim website, that you refer them to the Chabad Homepage :
rather than the gopher site.
meir weiss
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its rabbis, and its leaders to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash
and return the Kohanim to their Service
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