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Philologos Bible Prophecy Research Title: Third Temple News Submitted by: research-bpr@philologos.org Date: 02/04/04 URL: http://philologos.org/bpr/files/Misc_Studies/ms099.htm Third Temple News
12 Shevat, 5764
January 16, 2004 CHIEF RABBIS MEET THE POPE Chief Rabbis Yona Metzger and Rishon LeTzion Shlomo Amar are holding a historic meeting today in the Vatican with Pope John Paul II. The official topic of the 25-minute meeting will be the increasing number of anti-Semitic acts in Europe. The Pope, 83 and not in good health, is said to be "troubled" at the revival of such sentiment among Catholics in Europe. Vatican sources said that he would express to the Chief Rabbis his "solidarity with the Jewish people and their right to live in peace." He will also speak out against terrorism. The Chief Rabbis were also expected to ask for special permission to investigate Vatican facilities to see if traces of the vessels of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem can be found. A menorah from the Temple being carried to Rome as war booty is depicted on the Arch of Triumph, near the Roman Coliseum, which was built in the first century C.E. to celebrate the Roman takeover of the Jewish country. The Pope met Israel's previous Chief Rabbis, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, in March 2000 during his visit to Jerusalem. The Rabbis asked him to expressly apologize, during his subsequent visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, for the Church's role, and its silence, during the Holocaust. Though he lamented the crimes of what he called the "Shoah," the Pope did not apologize. Before the visit in 2000, Rabbi Lau recounted to reporters the history of previous rabbinic-papal relations in this century. He said that Pope Pius XII refused several requests by Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog to meet with him before and during the Holocaust and discuss how the Church could help save Jewish lives. After the war, too, Chief Rabbi Herzog asked for the Pope's assistance in locating Jewish orphans who were cared for by Catholic families, and again, the Pope refused. In 1964, when Pope Paul VI visited Israel, he refused to meet with the Rishon LeTzion Rabbi Yitzchak Nissim in Jerusalem, and Rabbi Nissim therefore boycotted the visit altogether. Rabbi Lau noted favorably the visit by the present Pope to visit the Chief Rabbis in their offices, as well as his refusal in the past to baptize a Jewish orphan "because the parents had specifically requested that the child be brought up as a Jew." Rabbi Lau, however, was disappointed by the lack of apology for the Church's behavior during the Holocaust, and commented that the Pope had asked forgiveness for 1492 CE (the Inquisition), but had not yet addressed the sins of 1942 CE (the Holocaust).
Arutz Sheva News Service
MUCH ABOUT HISTORY
Posted: January 16, 2004 © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com When Israel's chief rabbis meet Pope John Paul II today, they will seek permission to search Vatican storerooms for artifacts such as the huge golden menorah that stood in the Temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Vatican officials confirmed to the Associated Press the meeting would take place but declined comment on the rabbis' request. Yehuda Metzger and Shlomo Amar are to have an audience with Pope John Paul, the first by Israel's chief rabbis in the Vatican. The pope met Israel's previous chief rabbis during his visit in 2000. Amar, spiritual leader of Israel's Jews of North African origin, told Israeli army radio that when he received the invitation, he brought up the issue of the artifacts. "The truth is I asked them, I could not resist," he said. "I asked them about the Temple vessels and the menorah." When the Romans sacked Jerusalem in AD 70, they took Temple treasures with them. Legend has it that religious articles from the Temple, including the menorah, were among them. Amar said the Vatican has already denied the menorah is there. The Arch of Titus in Rome depicts victorious Roman legions marching off with the seven-branch menorah in hand. "My heart tells me this is not the truth, but that it is some kind of camouflage," Amar said. An aide to the rabbi said the Vatican was not likely to permit a search. The Vatican will allow the rabbis to view rare Jewish manuscripts in its possession, Amar said. He said if the rabbis were to come across "other objects," they would be happy to bring them home. The Maariv newspaper in Israel said the two rabbis could also seek to buy back a candelabrum that came from the Temple. It is believed to be held in the Vatican's vast treasure caves. The menorah was the most important symbol of the Temple after the Ark of the Covenant. The image of the biblical menorah is the symbol of the modern state of Israel. Some Orthodox Jews believe the restoration of the menorah and other holy vessels to Jerusalem would be the first step in rebuilding the Temple, whose site is now occupied by the Al Aqsa Mosque, a Muslim shrine. According to other press reports, the pontiff could proclaim an annual day dedicated to Judaism, in a fresh effort to further reconcile Jews and Christians. In 1996, in the face of criticism and skepticism, Israeli Religious Affairs Minister Shimon Shetreet requested of the pope that an official inquiry be conducted to determine if the legendary golden menorah from the Second Temple is hidden in the Vatican. Shetreet claimed to have evidence the menorah was there, though he refused to disclose it. He did say he had statements of people who claimed to have had discussions with previous popes, who indicated that the Catholic Church indeed did have such objects.
January 16, 2004 Old City, Temple Mount Most at Risk from Quake The Temple Mount at the Old City would be the worst hit parts of Jerusalem if a serious earthquake were to strike the capital, according to the first geological survey of kind. Among the other neighborhoods that were described as high-risk areas are the city's southeastern regions, including Emek Refaim, Abu Tor, Bakaa and East Talpiot. Several Arab villages on the outskirts of the capital were also included in the danger zones. There areas have a highly sensitive geological location, as well as problematic infrastructure that could destabilize the land during an earthquake. The survey was commissioned by Jerusalem municipality and carried out the by Israel Geological Institution. City engineer Uri Sheetrit initiated the survey at a cost of NIS 400,000, in order to help draw up the city's future construction plans. Quakes such as the one felt two weeks ago at the Dead Sea, defined as 'often felt, but rarely causing damage,' occur several times a year in Israel. All the experts are certain, however, that an earthquake of at least the same magnitude as the one that devastated the Iranian city of Bam last month will, sooner or later, hit Israel...
January 27, 2004 RABBI ACKNOWLEDGES: THE LONGING IS TOO GREAT Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount: Haifa's Chief Rabbi She'ar- Yashuv Cohen, a leading member of the Chief Rabbinate Council, says that the blanket ban on entering the Temple Mount is, for all intents and purposes, no longer in effect. "The longing to ascend to the holy site is so great," he acknowledged, "that every month, many religious Jews ascend to the site, and what we must do is to make clear exactly where the permitted areas are." The reason for the original rabbinic ban was because of the fear that Jews would unknowingly walk in areas that are Halakhically forbidden. "For very long, it was impossible to ascertain where these areas were, but now the situation has changed." Rabbi Cohen said that a synagogue existed on an area adjacent to the historic Temple Mount - in today's Temple Mount complex - for 400 years, and that the Rambam [Maimonides, 1135-1204] prayed in it. Rabbi Cohen addressed an Ariel Institute gathering yesterday on contemporary and Halakhic [Jewish legal] issues connected with the Holy Temple. In the audience were dozens of rabbis and public figures, including police officers. It was decided to establish a non- governmental committee that will look into the possibility of building a synagogue on the Temple Mount. Waqf and police officials have allowed Jews to ascend to the Temple Mount during the morning hours since August of last year - but they are not permitted to pray there. This morning, the police detained five Jews who allegedly took advantage of their presence at the holy site to utter a prayer.
Arutz Sheva News Service
January 28, 2004
Meles Negotiating with Israel to Trade the Arc of Covenant for "life
time friendship"
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Sources very close to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi say that Meles and his security chief Getachew Assefa have secretly struck a deal with the Israeli government to find a sterilized way of moving the Arc of the Covenant to Israel from Saint Mary of Zion Church in Axum, Northern Ethiopia. The deal, reportedly struck during the recent three days visit of Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom to Ethiopia (January 7-9, 2004), provides the Israeli government free access to investigate the "presence" of the Arc in Axum and find a means of taking it out of Ethiopia without raising the slightest suspicion by the Church community and the Ethiopian people. The Israeli government will in return grant a "permanent friendship" between Meles and Israel. Privileges of the "permanent friendship" include rescuing Meles from any danger and providing him protection and a place to live in Israel in case of regime change. "No one is allowed to see the Arc except a single guardian. If Meles and his accomplices get their way, no one would know except probably the guardian—and the guardian is only one person. But God is on the guardian's side and He will as always protect the Arc" said our source who is clearly angered and frustrated by this disturbing news. Many people throughout the world believe that the original Arc of the Covenant with the Ten Commandments inscribed in two tablets of stone and placed by Moses in the Arc is kept in the Chapel of Saint Mary of Zion Church in Axum. ( Abreha Tesfay, contributed and has sole responsibility for the content on this news report.)
February 1, 2004
Thousands Visit Temple Mount in Five Months
(IsraelNN.com) Over 10,000 Jews have ascended the Temple Mount in the past five months, since the site was reopened to non-Muslim visitors. The site had been off-limits to non-Muslims for nearly three years due to security concerns and because it is under Arab control. The daily administration of the Temple Mount is in the hands of two Waqfs – one appointed by Jordan and one appointed by Yasser Arafat. They are at odds with each other and both are at odds with the Jews. Over the past several years, there has been a campaign by Islam to utterly destroy – erase and eradicate – any vestige of Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. "It is an effort to re-write history," said Assistant Director of The Temple Center Rabbi Hayim Richman in an interview published on the Israel Hasbara Committee website (www.infoisrael.net). "The official position of Islam is that there never was a Temple on the Temple Mount." The Arabs, under the auspices of the Waqfs, have destroyed much of the archeological evidence that there was a Temple; the Arabs have even used bulldozers. The Temple Mount is the Jews' holiest site; the word Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran even once. It is mentioned over 700 times in the Jewish canon.
February 2, 2004 Transcript of Prophecy Today Daily radio program (5 minutes). News programs are only on the net for one week. I heard this after clicking on "Monday" link on February 2, 2004 (I don't know if it is last Monday's program or not so the date may be one week off). "Hi everybody, this is Jimmy DeYoung. In the News: 'Real-life Raiders of the Lost Ark have been in Jerusalem Searching for the Original Ark of the Covenant.' That's the headline."
Narrator:
DeYoung:
"Members of this group of explorers are not archaeologists, they are doctors, nurses, construction engineers and businessmen who have teamed with professional archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority who has sanctioned the search for the Ark of the Covenant. This latest search effort reignites debate over the location of the Ark of the Covenant with some claiming that the Ark is currently in Ethiopia and others saying it is at various sites around the world including under the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. "And that's the latest in the Middle East News Update. We cover the political because it is setting the stage for the prophetic to be fulfilled."
Narrator:
DeYoung:
"But think about this, the present situation of the Ark of the Covenant. For years there had been those who claimed that the Ark of the Covenant was in Ethiopia and would be returned to Jerusalem. Indiana Jones films have stated that the Ark is in Petra, located in southern Jordan and there have been other locations as well mentioned where the Ark of the Covenant may be today. Now there is an international search team that believes the Ark of the Covenant is in Jerusalem. "But now, think about this: the prophetic scenario for the Ark of the Covenant. The piece of the Temple furniture known as the Ark of the Covenant was a model, a prototype of the Messiah to come to Israel. The Jewish prophet Jeremiah spoke of the Ark of the Covenant not being needed in the future Messiah's Temple, that's Jeremiah 3:16, which, of course, is true when you have the real thing, the Messiah Jesus Christ, you no longer need the model. However, in the Tribulation Temple during the seven year period of time of judgment on this earth, there will be a Temple that must have the Ark of the Covenant in its Holy of Holies. A renewed search for the Ark of the Covenant is indeed setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.... maybe very soon. And that is my prophetic perspective on the news today."
February 2, 2004
In Response To Growing Demand, Temple Mount Tour Guide Course Opens
A senior officer in the Jerusalem Police Department reports that ever since the opening of the Temple Mount to Jews four months ago, some 10,000 people have visited the holy site - including 4,000 who have done so according to Halakhic [Jewish legal] guidelines. Kol Rina News Agency reports that before September 2000, when the Temple Mount was closed in the wake of the beginning of the Oslo War, the annual average number of visitors was only 4,000. In light of the growing demand, the "El Har HaMor" Temple Mount organization is sponsoring a course for Temple Mount tour guides. The course, already underway for several weeks, instructs tour guides how to lead groups at the holy site within the boundaries of halakhah [Jewish law], guided by rabbinical rulings on the matter. Certain areas of the Mount are off-limits to visitors by grave Biblical injunction, and the holiness of the entire site requires immersion in a mikveh [ritual bath] and other precautions prior to and during entry. In addition, El Har HaMor tour guides must know the precise boundaries of the permitted areas.
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