Transcript
Okay, good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov. Dedicate our learning this morning, as always, to a רפואה שלמה refuah shlema for חולי ישראל cholay Yisrael, a speedy and painless recovery for those who are ill. I'm sorry I don't have the mic this morning. We're a little understaffed right now at the moment. Most recently for שמחות, ברוך השם simchas, Baruch Hashem.So this morning, we have the privilege of studying the last two פרשיות parshios of ספר שמות Sefer Shmos. And these פרשיות parshios, as you know, to a great degree are a repetition, are a redundancy of פרשיות תרומה תצווה parshios Terumah Tetzaveh and תרומה Trumah and תצווה Tetzaveh, instructing us on the building of the משכן Mishkan. Our מפרשים meforshim, because so much is repetitive, the מפרשים meforshim don't have that much to offer. I shouldn't say that. The מפרשים meforshim always have much to offer, but the מפרשים meforshim don't comment as much as usual. So I want to spend our time this morning instead on a class, there are more handouts coming, on where the לוחות luchos, which are the core, central utensil in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, where are they today? Where are they hidden today? If one wanted to visit the לוחות luchos, where would one find them? Before we do, there are more copies coming, I want to at least because it's our weekly פרשה parsha class, I want to share with you two insights in the פרשה parsha, and then we'll get into this question. Hopefully, those handouts will be here in time.Says the תורה Torah, the real question that should bother everyone reading the פרשיות parshios is, why the redundancy? Why the repetitiveness? If you listened in בית הכנסת shul in תרומה Trumah and תצווה Tetzaveh, we already heard all the detailed instructions of the dimensions and of the materials, the engineering, how to build the משכן Mishkan, the כלים keilim, the utensils that are housed therein. פרשת תצווה Parshas Tetzaveh, the uniforms of the כהנים kohanim, כהן גדול kohein gadol, we already saw all this once before. So why is it repeated again? The real estate of the תורה Torah is incredibly precious. Why take up two פרשיות parshios with essentially repeating what we already know? It's a famous question. Everybody comments. But the most basic answer is the answer of the רמב\"ן Ramban. The רמב\"ן Ramban at the beginning of ויקהל Vayakhel. Writes the רמב\"ן Ramban, יקהל כל עדת ישראל אנשים ונשים כי כולם התנדבו למלאכת המשכן Yikhel kol adas Yisrael anashim v'nashim ki kulam hisnadvu l'meleches haMishkan. The תורה Torah says ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל Vayakhel Moshe es kol adas Bnei Yisrael. Moshe gathered all the people, ויאמר אליהם אלה הדברים אשר ציווה השם לעשות אותם va'yomer aleihem eileh ha'dvarim asher tziva Hashem la'asos osam. These are the words, these are the things that God has commanded you to perform. So says the רמב\"ן Ramban, it's unusual that we have an instruction to gather everyone. Why are we told specifically here, כל עדת בני ישראל kol adas Bnei Yisrael? כי כולם התנדבו למלאכת המשכן Ki kulam hisnadvu l'meleches haMishkan, because everybody was included in the donation, in giving to the משכן Mishkan. והנה משה אחר שציווה לאהרון ולנשיאים ולכל בני ישראל, האנשים, כל אשר דיבר השם עמו בסיני, אחר שבר הלוחות, ונסע מעל פניו והמסוה, חזר וציווה וקיהל עליו כל העדה אנשים ונשים V'hinei Moshe acher she'tziva l'Aharon v'lanesi'im u'lchol Bnei Yisrael, ha'anashim, kol asher diber Hashem oso b'Sinai, achar shvar ha'luchos, v'nasa ma'al panav v'hamasveh, chazar v'tziva v'kihal elav kol ha'edah anashim v'nashim. Why does Moshe have to regroup the people? Because what happened in the interim? What are they just recovering from? The חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel. The sin of the golden calf. The sin of the golden calf created chaos, it created anarchy, it created spiritual destruction. It put their destiny and their fate in the balance. And so in the aftermath of the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, Moshe gathers all of the people. ויתכן שהיה זה ביום מחורת רדתו מן ההר V'yitachen she'haya zeh b'yom macharas rido min ha'har. The רמב\"ן Ramban suggests, he doesn't say so with complete confidence, but he asserts that it's possible that when did this occur? When was the ויקהל Vayakhel? When did Moshe assemble all of the people? It was the day after he descended from the mountain. ויאמר לכולם עניין המשכן שנצטווה בו מתחילה קודם שבור הלוחות V'yomar l'kulam inyan haMishkan she'niztava bo mitchila kodem shvor ha'luchos. And he reminded them, he reinstructed them of the laws of building the משכן Mishkan that were enunciated already before the breaking of the tablets. Why? כי כיוון שנתרצה להם הקדוש ברוך הוא, ונתן לו הלוחות שניות, וכרת עמו ברית חדשה שיהיה השם בקרבם Ki keivan she'nisratza lahem haKadosh Baruch Hu, v'nasan lo ha'luchos shniyos, v'charas imo bris chadasha she'yiheh Hashem b'kirbam. It's an unbelievable insight of the רמב\"ן Ramban. It's a powerful lesson about our relationship with the Almighty, and I think it's very instructive about a goal that we should have within our own relationships as well. ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם שהכל נהיה בדברו Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam shehakol nihiyeh bidvaro. Thank you.Says Moshe, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, that which the people are commanded again, in detail, the minutiae, the redundancy, the repetitiveness is why? Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, the commandment to give the משכן Mishkan was given twice. This is a new commandment. It's not repetitive at all. They were commanded before the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, and then they had infidelity. They cheated on the Almighty. There was a breakdown in the relationship. Effort was placed in order to restore and in order to repair. And following that repair, what happened? These פרשיות parshios, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, ויקהל, פקודי Vayakhel, Pekudei represent renewing of the vows. Renewing of the vows. Because after all, what is the משכן Mishkan? The משכן Mishkan is the extension, it is the continuity of the הר סיני Har Sinai experience. The חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel unraveled, it undid that union that was created at הר סיני Har Sinai. So now that they've restored the relationship and repaired it, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives a second ציווי tzivui. He renews the vows. He gives them a ברית חדשה bris chadasha, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, a new covenant. הנה חזרו לקדמותם ולאהבם ולגדולתם Hinei chazru l'kadmusam v'l'ahavam u'ligdulasam. They return to their original love, to the original bond between the Almighty and his people. וידעו שתהא שכינתו בתוכם כעניין שציווהו בתחילה V'yad'u she'tiheh shchinaso b'socham k'inyan she'tzivahu b'techila. And God wanted the people to know that they were back to the way they were. That they weren't, that he forgave them, but he's always going to bear a grudge. He forgives them, he's going to let them live, he's going to stay married, but it's never going to be the same. He's going to stay under the same roof, but how could he ever forget? הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, by giving us פרשיות ויקהל ופקודי parshios Vayakhel u'Pekudei, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, displayed the ultimate graciousness of forgiveness, absolute forgiveness. He restored and returned the relationship to the way it was before the egregious indiscretion. So that the second commandment of the משכן Mishkan, the כלים keilim, and the בגדי כהונה bigdei kehuna is not repetitive. It is anew. It is a second commandment in order to show the ultimate forgiveness. כמו שאמר ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם, ולכן ציווה אותם משה עתה בכל מה שנצטווה מתחילה K'mo she'amar v'asu li mikdash v'shachanti b'socham, v'lachein tziva osam Moshe ata b'chol ma she'niztava m'techila. He repeats it all again to show it's as if it's the first time. It's as if it's the very beginning. That's how real our relationship is. In last week's פרשה parsha, when Moshe recites the formula that השם Hashem himself provided through which he could not deny forgiving the Jewish people, what's the formula? We recite it every יום הכיפורים Yom HaKipurim, ה' ה' קל רחום וחנון Hashem, Hashem, kel rachum v'chanun and so on. Why do we say ה' ה' Hashem, Hashem? Why do we repeat השם's Hashem's name twice? So the מפרשים meforshim say last week's פרשה parsha, the גמרא Gemara says, אני קודם חטא Ani kodem chait. The same ה' Hashem before the sin is the ה' Hashem אחר חטא achar chait. Is the ה' Hashem after the mistake. In other words, in human realm, in human relationships, it's really hard to forgive and forget. I mean, the more egregious, the more intense, the more painful and hurtful the mistake, the harder it is to forgive and forget, right? You may forgive. That part is easier, not easy, but easier. It's easier to forgive, but to forget is very, very difficult. You bear a grudge. It leaves a residual impact. It's very hard to purge from your memory the pain that you felt. ה' ה' Hashem, Hashem. When we turn to השם Hashem and דאווען daven to forgive us, השם Hashem among his thirteen descriptions of his kindness is the ultimate kindness of his willingness to go back to the way it was. His willingness to say, \"I don't know what you're talking about. חטא העגל Cheit ha'eigel, I never heard of it. I don't know what you're talking about. We're all good. We're back to the way it was before a mistake was ever made.\" Now, this is a message communicated at great real estate expense, right? To take up two פרשיות parshios, ויקהל, פקודי Vayakhel, Pekudei, to repeat everything. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, that message, it's such a hopeful message of תשובה teshuvah, which is the real lesson. The גמרא Gemara in עבודה זרה Avodah Zarah tells us, the real reason that we study חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, the reason the story of חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel is the reading that we do on a תענית ציבור ta'anis tzibur on a fast day, is not to focus on the downfall and the mistake, but says the גמרא Gemara in עבודה זרה Avodah Zarah, rather, to remember the power of תשובה teshuvah, the capacity to come back, to recover, to restore, and to repair to the way it was. If השם Hashem allowed us to go back to the way it was, if he renewed the vows, if he gave us the מצווה mitzvah yet again as if nothing happened, then first of all, we have the ability to be that forgiving of others, but it also should inspire our efforts to do תשובה teshuvah, because he's so willing to grant us that destination. It's not that we're going to pour our heart into repairing the relationship and, ah, who knows if he's even going to forgive us? ה' ה' קל רחום וחנון Hashem, Hashem, kel rachum v'chanun. קודם חטא, אחר חטא Kodem chait, achar chait. He's the same השם Hashem, he is unchanged, he doesn't bear a grudge. When he forgives, he really forgets, and he really moves on, and that is the essence of our פרשה parsha. I wanted to share a second insight, but I'm not going to because we don't have time. Instead, it's a good one, though. So you come back next year. Instead, let's go to this question. The לוחות luchos.So the core of פרשת ויקהל parshas Vayakhel is is the question or the instruction of the כלים keilim, the משכן Mishkan, the כלים keilim and so on. And the real question is, where are our כלים keilim today? Where are these holy vessels of the temple found today? If you're listening online, the source sheets should be there as well. Where did we last see the ארון aron? When you lose something, what are you supposed to do? Retrace your steps. When's the last time you saw your keys or your sunglasses or your cell phone? Right? Work backwards. When's the last time it was seen? So we're going to trace a little bit the journey of the ארון aron, the ארון ברית aron bris, the ארון לוחות aron luchos, the ark that contained the tablets, in an effort to find where are they today. Source number one. The תורה Torah tells us about the building of the of the ארון aron. ועשית בדי עצי שיטים, ציפית אותם זהב. והבאת את הבדים בטבעות על צלעות הארון לשאת את הארון בהם V'asisa badei atzei shitim, tzipisa osam zahav. V'heveisa es ha'badim ba'tabaos al tzalaos ha'aron, laseis es ha'aron bahem. You make these staves, you make these poles of wood covered with gold, you insert them in the rings of the ארון aron, בטבעות הארון יהיו הבדים, לא יסורו ממנו B'tabos ha'aron yihiyu ha'badim, lo yasuru mimenu. Once the poles are inserted into the rings of the ארון aron, the תורה Torah gives us a prohibition to remove them. Why? Why must the poles remain there? It's kind of bizarre. If you've ever moved and you have a, you know, a a a truck, you have a moving dolly, you have a put a piece of furniture on a rolling mechanism, so once you arrive at your new home, you take off the rolling mechanism. You take off the dolly. So here the ארון aron has poles inserted in order to be able to carry it, but once you insert it in the מקדש Mikdash, in the משכן Mishkan, they have to remain. Why do they have to remain? So the גמרא Gemara tells us in order to remind us, we think we're carrying the ארון aron, the ארון's aron's really carrying us. Another reason which is offered, שמשין רפאל הירש Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, a very beautiful idea, that we should remember the ארון aron is always ready to travel. It's not just the holiness is in the משכן Mishkan or the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, but the message, the values, the ideals of the ארון aron representing תורה Torah, they're they're ready to travel. Wherever we go, they come with us. Whatever the case may be, the תורה Torah instructs us that the poles must remain. ונתת אל הארון את העדות אשר אתן אליך V'nasata el ha'aron es ha'eidus asher etein eilecha. And what goes in the original ארון aron? What is placed gently, affectionately in the ark? The העדות ha'eidus. We call them the לוחות הברית luchos ha'bris, the לוחות העדות luchos ha'eidus. לוחות העדות Luchos ha'eidus means the tablets of the testimony. Good. What happened? Those tablets were destroyed. Last week's פרשה parsha, Moshe comes down, without השם Hashem telling him to, Moshe intuitively, impulsively, destroys the tablets. Could only imagine the millisecond after he did that in which you wondered, uh oh, what did I just do? Like these were no ordinary לוחות luchos. These לוחות luchos were miraculous, they're fashioned by the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam himself. The גמרא Gemara tells us, the לוחות luchos read, even though they were carved all the way through, they read correctly on both sides. That's impossible. The מם סופית mem sophis and the סמך samech, even though they're carved as a circle all the way around, the middle piece of stone miraculously remained suspended inside and didn't fall out. These were no ordinary tablets. This was no Apple product. These were Samsung, these were carved by the Almighty. And Moshe smashes them. But הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu moments later says יישר כוחך ששברת yashar koach'cha she'shibarta. You did the right thing. So what happens in דברים Devarim? בָּעֵת הַהִוא אָמַר יְהוָה אֵלַי פְּסָל-לְךָ שְׁנֵי-לוּחֹת אֲבָנִים כָּרִאשֹׁנִים, וַעֲלֵה אֵלַי הָהָרָה Ba'es ha'hi amar Hashem eilay, psol l'cha shnei luchos avanim ka'rishonim, va'aleh eilay ha'harah. Carve new tablets. This one not made by the Almighty, but made by Moshe. Fascinating in the בית הלוי Beis HaLevi has a whole essay, why the second set of tablets were enduring while the first set didn't last, right? Paradoxically, those carved by השם Hashem didn't make it, and those carved by man endure. וכתבתי על הלוחות את הדברים אשר היו על הלוחות הראשונים אשר שיברת V'echtov al ha'luchos es ha'dvarim asher hayu al ha'luchos ha'rishonim asher shibarta. Moshe, you should write on the second set of tablets what had been inscribed on the first set, and what should you do with them? ושמתם בארון V'samtam ba'aron. Place them in the ארון aron. Says the גמרא Gemara in מנחות Menachos, source three, in מנחות צדי ט Menachos tzadi tes, אשר שיברת ושמתם בארון asher shibarta v'samtam ba'aron. תני תנא, רבי יוסף מלמד, שהלוחות ושברי לוחות מונחין בארון Tani tanna, Rebbe Yosef melamed, she'haluchos v'shivrei luchos munachin ba'aron. What's inside the ארון aron? The whole tablets and Moshe swept up the pieces. The תורה Torah never tells us what happened with the shards of the first לוחות luchos. Did he clean them? Did he step over them to go rebuke the people? But the גמרא Gemara fills in what the תורה Torah leaves out. And the גמרא Gemara says the לוחות ושברי לוחות מונחין בארון luchos v'shivrei luchos munachin ba'aron, the whole tablets, the broken tablets are all placed in the ארון aron. And a very powerful lesson. מכאן תלמיד חכם ששכח תלמודו מחמת אונסו שאין נוהגו מנהג בזיון Mikan talmid chacham she'shachach talmudo machmas onso she'ein nohago minhag bizayon. A תלמיד חכם talmid chacham who experiences the infirmities of age, a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham who suffers dementia, Alzheimer's, memory loss, who's unable to communicate the תורה Torah he once knew, he is שברי לוחות shivrei luchos. To a degree, that individual is a broken representation of who they once were. But they go בארון ba'aron. We treat them with the same honor and the same dignity that you treated them when they were whole, when they could remember and draw from that memory and communicate. I spoke about this past שבת Shabbos here in השכמה hashkama, this גמרא Gemara. To me, the notion of the לוחות ושברי לוחות luchos v'shivrei luchos means that the mistakes we make in our lives, the failures, the shortcomings, שבע יפול צדיק וקם sheva yipol tzaddik v'kam, שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech says, the righteous person falls seven times and gets up. מפרשים Meforshim say, why seven times? Each of the times that the righteous person falls, he tries to extract the lesson to understand why did he fall? Why did he succumb? Why did he stumble? So that the next time he could learn from it. The רשע rasha falls and then falls deeper and deeper and deeper. The righteous falls and it becomes a springboard, right? The weight, the velocity of their fall bounces them even higher up. שבע יפול צדיק וקם Sheva yipol tzaddik v'kam. Those שברי לוחות shivrei luchos, those broken moments in our lives, we don't erase from our memory. We don't purge from our history. We don't rewrite our own personal story to erase them. But rather, שברי לוחות shivrei luchos, the failures in our lives are also part of our life story because they helped propel us to who we are. לוחות, ושברי לוחות מונחין בארון Luchos, the shivrei luchos munachin ba'aron. So what we saw so far is, what does the ארון aron have inside of it? The לוחות luchos, it has the שברי לוחות shivrei luchos. What else does it have? Source four. ויהי ככלות משה לכתוב את דברי התורה הזאת על ספר עד תומם Vayehi k'chalos Moshe l'chtov es divrei ha'Torah hazos al sefer ad tumam. Moshe finished writing the words of תורה Torah on a book at their conclusion. Right, I've shared with you before, every time השם Hashem calls Moshe to the אוהל מועד ohel moed, he writes on a scroll the dictation that's offered by the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants to record a story that just happened. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants Moshe to record a מצווה mitzvah the way he gives it. He summons Moshe to the אוהל מועד ohel moed, Moshe takes dictation, and at the end of Moshe's life, he gathers all these scrolls and ties them together to form the first ספר תורה sefer Torah. And that's what's happening here. Of course, the last few פסוקים psukim of the תורה Torah were Moshe died, who wrote those? The גמרא Gemara in בבא בתרא Bava Basra, was it יהושע Yehoshua? Did Moshe write it through his tears? But Moshe takes these scrolls, combines them together to form what is the very first and most authoritative ספר תורה sefer Torah. Where did it go? Which שול shul got that ספר תורה sefer Torah? Which army base? Where is that תורה Torah? So the תורה Torah tells us, דברים למד א Devarim lamed aleph, ויצו משה את הלוים נושאי ארון ברית ה' לאמור, לקוח את ספר התורה הזה ושמתם אותו מצד ארון ברית ה' אלוקיכם, והיה שם בך לעד Vayetzav Moshe es ha'leviim nosei aron bris Hashem l'eimor, lakoach es sefer ha'Torah hazeh v'samtam oso m'tzad aron bris Hashem Elokeichem, v'haya sham b'cha l'eid. That very first ספר תורה sefer Torah, the authoritative original one, is placed in the ארון aron at Moshe's instruction. So now we know, what does the ארון aron have? It has the whole tablets, it has the broken tablets, it has the ספר תורה sefer Torah. What else does it have? The מן mun. A canister of מן mun, lest we think that the מן mun wasn't real, it has a canister of this miraculous supernatural food so that we can draw from the miracle of the מן mun falling in perpetuity. Good. Where did this ארון aron go? They build the ארון aron, פרשיות parshios, תרומה, תצווה, ויקהל, פקודי Trumah, Tetzaveh, Vayakhel, Pekudei. At the end of דברים Devarim, Moshe is told, \"put the לוחות ושברי לוחות, ספר תורה luchos v'shivrei luchos, sefer Torah.\" Where does it go? Source five, ספר יהושע פרק ג Sefer Yehoshua, perek gimmel. When the Jewish people crossed the ירדן Yarden, when they realized the dream of the entering the land, the ירדן Yarden splits, a recreation of ים סוף Yam Suf. The ים סוף Yam Suf split in two, the ירדן Yarden splits in one, one wall, and they build a monument in the middle of the ירדן Jordan, in the middle of the ירדן Yarden, they build a monument as they cross. יהושע Yehoshua instructs them, יהושע פרק ג, פסוק ג Yehoshua perek gimmel, pasuk gimmel. ויצוו את העם לאמור כראותכם את ארון ברית ה' אלוקיכם והכהנים הלוים נושאים אותו, ואתם תסעו ממקומכם והלכתם אחריו V'yetzavu es ha'am l'eimor, k'roschem es aron bris Hashem Elokeichem v'hakohanim ha'leviim nos'im oso, v'atem tis'u mimkomchem v'halachtem acharav. Says יהושע Yehoshua to the people, how will you know it's time to travel? What is the signal it's time to go? When you see the ארון aron. So we see that the ארון aron travels with the people. In fact, follow the ארון aron. It is the ארון's aron's presence which induces, which is the catalyst for the splitting of the ירדן Yarden, for their crossing and entering into Israel. יהושע Yehoshua, source six, יהושע פרק ו Yehoshua, perek vav. They fight a war with יריחו Yericho, the first city that they counter, that they conquer. ויאמר ה' אל יהושע ראה נתתי בידך את יריחו ואת מלכה גיבורי החיל Vayomer Hashem el Yehoshua, re'eh nasati v'yadcha es Yericho v'es malka giborei ha'chayil. ושבעה כהנים ישאו שבעה שופרות היובלים לפני הארון וביום השביעי תסובו את העיר שבע פעמים, והכהנים יתקעו בשופרות V'shiv'a kohanim yis'u shiv'a shofros hayovlim lifnei ha'aron, u'vayom ha'shvi'i tasovu es ha'ir sheva pe'amim, v'hakohanim yitk'u bashofros. So what does the תורה Torah say? Every day, you should, the army encircles the city one time for six days, and on the seventh time day, you encircle the city seven times with the ארון aron. And what happens? Miraculously, the walls will crumble. There was archaeological, there was an archaeological find a number of years ago that found walls, ancient walls of the city of יריחו Yericho that fell out, not in. If you're a conquering army and you break down a wall, where should that wall be found, the ruins? In. They were found, I read somewhere, out. So we know the story that יריחו Yericho was conquered miraculously. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu wanted to create a precedent when they first entered the land. What was the catalyst? What created the miracle? What passed before them when they encircled the city of יריחו Yericho? The ארון aron. By the way, this is one of the reasons for the custom, the כלה kallah walks around the חתן chasan seven times at a חופה chuppah, that just like the wall came crumbling down outside יריחו Yericho, whatever barrier, whatever wall remains between the two should come crumbling down before their union, before they wed under the חופה chuppah. I don't know if that's true, but it works for when you have to do a חופה chuppah. It's a nice idea. Okay, so the ארון aron goes with them to cross the ירדן Yarden. The ארון aron leads the way in the path to defeat and conquer יריחו Yericho. Where is the ארון aron placed next? Where does the משכן Mishkan find housing for a few centuries? In שילה Shilo. Source seven, שמואל א, פרק ג Shmuel Aleph, perek gimmel. ויעלם דוד וכל העם אשר אתו מבעלי יהודה להעלות משם את ארון האלוקים אשר נקרא שם, שם ה' צבאות יושב הכרובים עליו, וירכיבו את ארון האלוקים אל עגלה חדשה וישאוהו מבית אבינדב אשר בגבעה, ועוזא ואחיו בני אבינדב נוהגים את העגלה חדשה Vaya'al David v'chol ha'am asher ito miBa'alei Yehuda l'ha'alos misham es aron ha'Elokim asher nikra shem, shem Hashem tzvaos yoshev ha'kruvim alav, vayarkivu es aron ha'Elokim el agala chadasha vayisa'uhu m'beis Avinadav asher bagiv'a, v'Uza v'Achio bnei Avinadav nohagim es ha'agala chadasha. The ארון aron is housed in שילה Shilo. Anyone here been to שילה Shilo? It's beautiful. You have to go. They're doing all kinds of archaeological digs and finds. You can see the footprint of where the משכן Mishkan was. The footprint of where the משכן Mishkan was. They're confident that that represents the footprint because the measurements match the measurements of the משכן Mishkan, and because on the hill adjoining the area, they found an ancient מקווה mikvah which would have been what the כהנים kohanim needed to immerse before functioning in that area. They're, you go there, it's very powerful when you find women in particular דאווען davening. You can only imagine they were דאווען davening like חנה Chana, חנה Chana who went to the משכן Mishkan in שילה Shilo to דאווען daven when she was barren for a child. It's very powerful, it's beautiful to go to שילה Shilo today. So the ארון aron finds its way to שילה Shilo. The ארון aron is conquered, it's taken by the פלישתים Plishtim from the Jewish people. The פלישתים Plishtim suffer. It's fascinating. Anyone remember what the malady, how does God punish the פלישתים Plishtim, what do they suffer? Hemorrhoids. Interesting. No preparation H at the time. The uh, the פלישתים Plishtim suffer from hemorrhoids. And ultimately that plague, as you can one hopefully doesn't have to imagine, but induces them, encourages them to return the ארון aron. They do, and they accompany it with, they fashioned a monument to recount the event that they returned the ארון aron with golden hemorrhoids, the נביא navi describes. That's how they uh, that's how they memorialize. Fine, so the ארון aron is taken, the ארון aron is returned. מלכים Melachim is the next time in the ארון aron, source eight, מלכים א, פרק ו, פסוק יט Melachim Aleph, perek vav, pasuk yud tes. ודביר בתוך הבית מפנימה הכין, לשום שם את ארון ברית ה' U'dvir b'soch ha'bayis mipnima heichin, l'sum sham es aron bris Hashem. An inner sanctum, an inner sanctuary was created within the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, ואשם שם את ארון ברית ה' v'asham sham es aron bris Hashem. And what is placed there? We find שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech builds the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, he builds an inner sanctum in order to house the ארון aron. Good. Lastly, דברי הימים Divrei Hayamim, source nine. ויעש יאשיהו בירושלים פסח לה' Vaya'as Yoshiyahu v'Yerushalayim pesach l'Hashem. יאשיהו Yoshiyahu in דברי הימים Divrei Hayamim makes פסח pesach. ויאמר לכהנים על משמרותם ויחזקם לעבודת בית ה' Vayomer la'kohanim al mishmorosam vayechezkeim l'avodas beis Hashem. ולכל ישראל הקדושים לה', תנו את ארון הקודש בבית אשר בנה שלמה בן דוד מלך ישראל, אין לכם משא בכתף U'lchol Yisrael ha'kedoshim l'Hashem, tnu es aron ha'kodesh ba'bayis asher bana Shlomo ben David melech Yisrael, ein lachem masa ba'kasef. What happens? He says to the לויים Leviim, place the ארון aron that שלמה Shlomo, son of David, the king of Israel built, they would no longer have any carrying on your shoulder, permanently place it in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. So source ten, you have a map of the journey of the ארון's aron's journey. You see it going from שילה Shilo to where it's captured from the פלישתים Plishtim, to דגון Dagon, גת Gath, עקרון Ekron, בית שמש Beis Shemesh, קרית יערים Kiryas Yearim, and so on, ultimately till it is placed in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash itself. So we find the presence of the ארון aron from when it's built in פרשת תרומה parshas Trumah, the לוחות, שברי לוחות luchos, shivrei luchos are placed in it in פרשת דברים parshas Devarim. It crosses the ירדן Yarden with the people. It tours Israel, taking a hiatus when the פלישתים Plishtim take it, steal it. It's returned to the Jewish people. It's placed permanently in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. We know it's there for בית ראשון Bayis Rishon, the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash built by שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech. What about בית שני Bayis Sheini? Was the ארון aron in בית שני Bayis Sheini? Says the גמרא יומא Gemara Yoma, source eleven. חמישה דברים היו בין מקדש ראשון למקדש שני Chamisha devarim hayu bein Mikdash rishon l'Mikdash sheini. There are five differences between the first temple and the second. ואלו הן Ve'eilu hein, and these are they, ארון והכפורת והכרובים, שכינה ורוח הקודש ואורים ותומים Aron v'hakapores v'hakruvim, Shchina v'Ruach HaKodesh, v'Urim v'Tumim. Five differences. But among them, three of them are the ארון, הכפורת והכרובים aron, the kapores and the kruvim, the cover on the top of the ארון aron. So when is the last time that we saw the ארון aron? In בית ראשון Bayis Rishon, the first temple when it was placed there. We know that by בית שני Bayis Sheini, by the second temple, the גמרא Gemara tells us there was no ארון aron. The בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash did not have the ארון aron in the second temple. So we've now narrowed when the ארון aron disappeared. The ארון aron was last seen in the first temple. It's not seen in the second temple. So we've narrowed the window of when it disappeared. Where is it? Where is the ארון aron today? That's the question. Where is the ארון aron today? In עזרא Ezra, source twelve, when the נביא navi describes the return to Israel between the first and the second בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. So it says, בשנת אחת לכורש מלך כורש מלך B'shnas achas l'Koresh melech Koresh melech. The first year of King Cyrus, כורש Koresh, he had a decree, they could return. So it describes three rows of marble, one row of new wood. The golden and silver vessels of the temple which נבוכדנצר Nebuchadnezzar removed from the sanctuary and brought to בבל Bavel shall be returned and shall go to the sanctuary. That is to ירושלים Yerushalayim, to their place, and they should be placed in the temple of God. What does it not mention in that list? The ארון aron. The ark is not mentioned among the vessels that will be returned for בית שני Bayis Sheini. Moreover, how many years was in the first? Why not? We'll see, we'll see. As far as we know right now, it was in the first בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, not in the second בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, and we don't see it returning with עזרא Ezra. We also don't see in source thirteen, source thirteen is a picture of the Arch of Titus. The Arch of Titus memorializes Titus's conquest of ירושלים Yerushalayim, of the evil טיטוס הרשע Titus ha'Rasha. You know, it takes a lot to get an appellation, to get a title from חז\"ל Chazal. Titus is called טיטוס הרשע Titus ha'Rasha. His brazenness, his חוצפה chutzpah when he conquered the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, we study on תשעה באב Tisha B'Av, the גמרא Gemara's in גיטין Gittin, in איכה רבה Eicha Rabbah about about how he pierced the פרוכת paroches and it bled, how he was בועל זונה bo'el a zonah in the קודש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim on an unrolled ספר תורה sefer Torah, and so on. The brazenness of Titus, which הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, by the way, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu brought Titus's demise, the גמרא Gemara says, this person who thought he was such a great man, השם Hashem brought his demise how? Through a little gnat. A little gnat crawled into his ear, went into his brain, and the גמרא Gemara tells us. a ringing sound in his head the rest of his life that drove him crazy. There's an article in the American medical journal that says, why is it called tinnitus? Its origin is Titus. This disease began with Titus, tinnitus, that ringing in the in the ears. On the Arch of Titus, where this מחוצף muchutzaf, where this רשע rasha memorialized his conquest, you see the כלים keilim going with him to Rome. What is not in the Arch of Titus? The ארון Aron. The ארון Aron. Are these other objects there in the basement of the Vatican? Possibly, probably. גמרא Gemara has a number of locations where it records a conversation among תנאים Tannaim. For example, this week's פרשה parsha, פקודי Pekudei, the ציץ tzitz, the head plate that the כהן Kohen wore, said קודש להשם Kodesh LaShem. So the גמרא Gemara records a מחלוקת machlokes. Those words, קודש להשם Kodesh LaShem, were they on one line or two lines? קודש להשם Kodesh LaShem on one line? Or did the top line say קודש kodesh and the second line say להשם laShem? So there's a whole discussion, a whole מחלוקת machlokes going on in the גמרא Gemara. One of the great rabbis turns to the other and he says, what are you talking about? I was in Rome and I saw it. And I am telling you, it says it this way. I was in Rome, and I saw it there. So we have a tradition that these כלים keilim were taken to Rome, and as far as we know, they are still in the basement somewhere in the Vatican. But what is not included in the Arch of Titus? The ארון Aron. So where is it? It was in the first בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. We saw its journey until then. We know it's not in the second בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. It wasn't brought back with Ezra and does not appear to have been plundered from the second בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash on the Arch of Titus. So where is it? There are all kinds of theories.The second book of Maccabees, source 14. This is a quote from the second book of Maccabees, apocryphal literature. The records show that it was the prophet ירמיהו Yirmiyahu who prompted by a divine message gave orders that the tent of meeting and the ark should go with him. ירמיהו Yirmiyahu, who anticipates the conquest of נבוכדנצר Nevuchadnetzar, ירמיהו Yirmiyahu, who anticipates the destruction, takes the ארון Aron out before the destruction, and he went away to the mountain, to the top of which משה Moshe saw God's promised land. When he reached the mountain, ירמיהו Yirmiyahu found a cave dwelling. He carried the tent, the ark, and the incense altar into it. He blocked up the entrance. Some of his companions came to mark out the way, but were unable to find it. When ירמיהו Yirmiyahu learned of this, he reprimanded them. The place shall remain unknown, he said, until God finally gathers his people together and shows mercy to them. The Lord will bring these things to light again, and the glory of the Lord will appear with the cloud, as it was seen both in the time of משה Moshe and when שלמה Shlomo prayed that the shrine might be worthily consecrated. So here the book of Maccabees testifies, where is the ארון Aron? It doesn't give us a name, but it tells us it's in the top of the mountain where משה Moshe last saw Israel. Where is that? Go to source 16, דברים Devarim. ויעל משה מערבות מואב אל הר נבו, ראש הפסגה אשר על פני ירחו, ויראהו השם את כל הארץ את הגלעד עד דן Vaya'al Moshe me'arvot Moav el Har Nevo, rosh hapisgah asher al pnei Yericho, vayar'eihu Hashem et kol ha'aretz et haGilad ad Dan. Moshe ascends הר נבו Har Nevo. From הר נבו Har Nevo, Moshe gazes into the land of Israel. So when the Book of Maccabees quotes ירמיהו Yirmiyahu as saying that he took the ארון Aron out in order to preserve it before the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash would be conquered by בבל Bavel, and where did he place it? In the mountain, in a cave, in a cavern, in the mountain that משה Moshe last saw the land. What mountain is that? הר נבו Har Nevo. Source 15, there you see a map, הר נבו Har Nevo, you see, it is on the east side of the ירדן Yardain, southeast of יריחו Yericho, next to the Dead Sea. That is הר נבו Har Nevo. There's a picture of הר נבו Har Nevo on the left. So according to this, ירמיהו Yirmiyahu, like the Dead Sea Scrolls, just as the scrolls were held and were preserved in a cavern, not in this area, but here on the east bank of the ירדן Yardain, ירמיהו Yirmiyahu anticipates and tries to avoid the desecration of the ארון Aron by hiding it. I don't know of anyone who has dug in הר נבו Har Nevo looking for the ארון Aron there, but that is one theory.Another theory of where the ארון Aron is, go to source 17. There's an article from ערוץ שבע Arutz Sheva. Ethiopia. An Ethiopian church leader says on Friday, June 26, this is a couple of years ago, marks the right time to unveil the biblical Ark of the Covenant, which he says has been hidden in his church for centuries. Abuna Paulos, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, was in Rome to meet with Pope. While there, he told reporters the time had come to reveal before the world the holy ark. He said the holy container has been in the custody of his church for hundreds of years. By the way, this guy is not some, if he's meeting with the Pope, he's not a total whack. He's got some prestige. And he's claiming that hidden in his church in Ethiopia is the ark. The claim that the biblical Holy Ark has been kept at the church in the city of Aksum is an old one. This is the first time the church plans to actually reveal it. Copies of the alleged ark are kept in many other churches in Ethiopia. The news of the impending announcement was first reported. Paulos said the Ark of the Covenant has been in Ethiopia for many centuries. As patriarch, I've seen it with my own eyes. And only a few highly qualified persons could do the same until now. Ethiopia. Why would the ark be in Ethiopia? Why would it be in Ethiopia? מלכים א פרק י Melachim Alef, Perek Yud, source 18. What relationship is there between the Jewish people and Ethiopia? Between the one who built the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash and Ethiopia? Who was one of שלמה המלך's Shlomo HaMelech's wives? ומלכת שבא שמעת את שמע שלמה לשם השם ותבא לנסתו בחידות U'malkat Shva shama'at et shema Shlomo l'shem Hashem, vatavo l'nasoto b'chidot. The queen of Sheba heard of Shlomo's fame and it was in the name of Hashem she came to test him. She arrives in ירושלים Yerushalayim. The very large entourage, camels, bearing very large amounts of spices, gold. She came before Shlomo, she spoke with him, all that was in her heart. Shlomo told her solutions to the questions. There was not a thing hidden. The queen of Sheba saw all of the wisdom and she saw all of the palace. And there is a theory that because שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech had this relationship with the queen of Ethiopia, that somehow the ark migrated back to Ethiopia. How? So Shlomo and the queen of Sheba have a son named Menelik. This is their tradition. And this son Menelik brought the ארון Aron back to Ethiopia. The Falashas, who are the black Jews, have this tradition. Falashas, some of them have this tradition that where is the ark? Somehow, at some time, it migrated from its original housing to Ethiopia. This is an article written in the Smithsonian magazine, December 2007, page 7. Christians in Ethiopia have long claimed to have the Ark of the Covenant. Our reporter investigated. Again, Smithsonian magazine, December 2007. Look where I put the arrow. Through the centuries, Ethiopian Christians have claimed the ark rests in a chapel in the small town of Aksum, in their country's northern highlands. It arrived nearly 3,000 years ago, they say, and has been guarded by a succession of virgin monks, who once anointed, are forbidden to set foot outside the chapel grounds until they die. Many historians including Richard Pankhurst, a British born scholar who lived in Ethiopia for 50 years, date a manuscript to the 14th century. It was written, they say, to validate the claim by Menelik's descendants that their that their right to rule was God-given, based on an unbroken succession from Solomon and Queen of Sheba. But the Ethiopian faithful say the chronicles were copied from a 4th-century Coptic manuscript that was in turn based on a far earlier account. The lineage remained so important to them it was written into Selassie's two imperial constitutions, 1931 and 1955. So here's Smithsonian magazine, Ethiopian people, some leader Menelik who was a descendant of Shlomo and Queen of Sheba, took the ark back with them. They claim for 3,000 years, it has been sitting in Ethiopia.Next, Time magazine, source 20. Time magazine 2008, claims where is the ארון הברית Aron HaBris? Where is the covenant? Where is the ark of the covenant? Where are the לוחות luchos today? In South Africa. South Africa. Where do they get this from? Parfitt, 63, is a professor at University of London's prestigious School of Oriental and African studies. His new book, The Lost Ark, Solving the 2500-Year Mystery of the Fabled Biblical Ark, along with a History Channel special, they risk a fine academic reputation on what might be called a shaggy ark story. The professor has been right before, his ark fixation, he lived in South Africa in a clan called the Lemba, who claimed to be a lost tribe of Israel. Colleagues laughed at him before backing the claim. In 1998, a genetic marker, specific to descendants of Jerusalem's Temple priests, was found to appear among the Lemba's priestly cast, as in Jews named Cohen. The Lemba made global news. Right? So here you have a clan, a tribe in South Africa who have genetic markers the same as Jewish כהנים kohanim. Why is that? So this scholar who is not a flake, who's prestigious, London School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, so he claims they are one of the lost tribes. They migrated to Africa, and when they did, what did they take with them? The ארון Aron. They took the ark. He says a splinter was carbon-dated the drum to 1350, ancient for an African wood artifact, 2,500 years after Moshe. Undaunted, he asserts this is the ark referred to in Lemba tradition. Lemba has it. The original noma destroyed itself some 400 years ago, they rebuilt it on its own ruins, and so on. Okay, so here you have another scholar who claims that the ארון Aron is not in הר נבו Har Nevo, not in Ethiopia, where is it? In South Africa. South Africa. You have another who wrote a whole book, source 21, called Tara and the Ark of the Covenant. During the turn of the 20th century, British Israelites carried out excavations in the Hill of Tara in Ireland. Looking for the Ark of the Covenant. The Royal Society of Antiquities of Ireland campaigns successfully to have them stopped before they destroyed the hill. So, there are some who believe, bless you, that the ark is in Ireland. I didn't bring you the rest of these, but there are some who think it's in Rome, the UK, France, every theory. I'm surprised it's not a house somewhere in Boca. Every theory of where the ark could be is out there. The question is, what's our מסורה mesorah? What's our tradition? Where is the ארון Aron today? We saw it built, we saw what was placed in it, Yehoshua carries it over the ירדן Yardain, it leads them in the conquest of יריחו Yericho, it is stolen by the פלישתים Plishtim, it's returned and placed in the in the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, the first Temple. It does not return to the second Temple. It's not removed from the second Temple. The גמרא Gemara in יומא Yuma tells us it was not in the second Temple. Where is it today? גמרא יומא נג Gemara Yuma Nun Gimmel. משנה Mishna. מי שנטל ארון Mi'shenatal Aron, אבן היתה שם מימות נביאים ראשונים even hayta sham mimot neviim rishonim. After the ארון Aron was taken away, a stone was there from the days of the earlier prophets. ושתיה היתה נקראת U'shtiya hayta nikreis. This stone is called the אבן השתיה Even Hashsiya, the foundation stone. It's גבוה מן הארץ שלש אצבעות gavoha min ha'aretz shalosh etzba'ot, ועליה היה נותן ve'aleha haya notein, it's three handbreadths above the ground, and that's where the כהן גדול kohein gadol would put the shovel of burning coals when he took it in on יום כיפור Yom Kippur. The Mishna here is telling us about the process of יום כיפור Yom Kippur and the כהן גדול's kohein gadol's עבודה avodah, but in this context tells us that the ארון Aron was taken, it was now the foundation stone was exposed. Where is that foundation stone today? Still there. You can see pictures of it. It's in the under the Golden Dome that is sitting on our precious הר הבית Har Habayis. By the way, and that is the critical piece if you want to know the dimensions on הר הבית Har Habayis, where you can go and where you can't go, where everything was, it all begins by measuring against the foundation stone, the אבן השתיה Even Hashsiya, from which, we're told, the world was created from there. The אבן השתיה Even Hashsiya was the first thing Hashem created, and the world was created from that spot. Says the גמרא Gemara, מישנגנז לא קתני אלא מישניטל mi'shenignaz lo ketani, ela mi'shenital. The גמרא Gemara says, pay careful attention to the Mishna. What does the Mishna say? From when the ארון Aron was taken. What does it not say? From when the ארון Aron was buried, was hidden. תנן כמאן דאמר ארון גלה לבבל Tnan k'man d'amar Aron gala l'Bavel. So what do you see from here? It sounds like from our Mishna, it's according to the view who says that the ark went into exile in בבל Bavel. דתניא רבי אליעזר אומר ארון גלה לבבל D'tanya Rabbi Eliezer omer, Aron gala l'Bavel, שנאמר לשובת השם אשר הראה נבוכדנצר וכו' ויביאם בבלה עם כלי חמדת בית השם she'ne'emar l'shuvat Hashem asher her'a Nevuchadnetzar... v'yeviem Bavela im klei chemdat Beis Hashem. So one תנא Tanna holds, one opinion Rabbi Eliezer holds, where did the ארון Aron go? To בבל Bavel. When נבוכדנצר Nevuchadnetzar conquered ירושלים Yerushalayim, he brought the ארון Aron back to בבל Bavel. Babylonia. Where is Babylonia today? Iraq. רבי שמעון בן יוחאי אומר Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai omer, a רשב״י Rashbi says, ארון גלה לבבל Aron gala l'Bavel as well, שנאמר she'ne'emar לא יותר דבר אמר השם lo yivaser davar amar Hashem, אלו עשרת הדברות שבו eilu aseres hadibros shebo. רבי יהודה בן לקיש אומר ארון במקומו נגנז Rabbi Yehuda ben Lakish omer, Aron bimkomo nignaz. No, the ארון Aron wasn't taken back to בבל Bavel. No, the ארון Aron was hidden. Where? In its place. ויראו ראשי הבדים מן הקדש על פני הדביר ולא יראו החוצה Vayeira'u roshei habadim min hakodesh al pnei hadvir v'lo yeira'u hachutza. It says that the tips of the poles were noticeable upon the face of the inner sanctum, yet they were not showing on the outside. They remained there to this very day. What does it mean to this very day? They were hidden in the same spot where they once were. ופליגי דעולא U'pligi d'Ula. This Baraita disputes the tradition of עולא Ula. דאמר עולא D'amar Ula, שאל רבי מתיא בן חרש את רבי שמעון בן יוחאי ברומי sha'al Rabbi Masya ben Cheresh et Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai b'Romi. Rabbi Masya asked Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai in Rome. וכי מאחר שרבי אליעזר מלמדנו פעם ראשונה ושניה ארון גלה לבבל V'chi mei'achar sh'Rabbi Eliezer melamdeinu pa'am rishona u'shniya Aron gala l'Bavel? Inasmuch as Rabbi Eliezer already taught us twice that the ארון Aron went to בבל Bavel? אמר רב נחמן Amar Rav Nachman, תנא Tanna, חכמים אומרים, ארון בלשכת דיר העצים היה גנוז Chachamim omrim, Aron b'lishkas dir ha'eitzim haya ganuz. Where? So we have two traditions. Did the ארון Aron go to בבל Bavel? Or the other tradition is, רב שמעון בר יוחאי Rav Shimon bar Yochai, that the ארון Aron was buried, hidden in its place. Where in its place? So the גמרא Gemara quotes the חכמים Chachamim, לשכת דיר העצים Lishkas Dir HaEitzim, in the chamber of wood. There you have a picture of the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, in that corner where there's the arrow, the chamber of wood, the לשכת בית הדיר Lishkas Beis HaDir, underneath that לשכה lishka. אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק אף אנן נמי תנינא מעשה בכהן אחד שהיה מתעסק Amar Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak, af anan nami tninna, maaseh b'kohen echad she'haya mis'asek, there was once a כהן גדול kohen gadol who was busy וראה רצפה משונה מחברותיה v'ra'a ritzpa m'shuna m'chaveroseha. So what did they do in the chamber of wood? You had כהנים kohanim who had a מום mum or were טמא tamei, who were unable to participate in the עבודה avodah, but they too wanted to be active. What did they do? They checked the wood for worms. A wood that had worms was ineligible to be used in the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, in the עבודה avodah. So they sat in the chamber of wood examining the wood. So the גמרא Gemara tells us there was a כהן kohen who was busy there and he noticed one of the stones on the floor was different from the other stones. ובא והודיע את חבירו U'ba v'hodi'a es chavero, so he told his friend. ולא הספיק לגמור את הדבר עד שיצאה נשמתו V'lo hispik ligmor es hadavar ad sheyatza nishmaso. וידעו בייחוד ששם ארון גנוז V'yad'u b'yichud she'sham Aron ganuz. He said, you know, I found this stone that's it moves. It's different than the other ones. Let's check it out. And before he got a chance to check it out, what happened? He dropped dead. He died. So his contemporaries understood that underneath that stone is where the ארון Aron was hidden, where it was buried. מה היה עביד Mah haya avadei? What was he doing? אמר רבי חלבו מתעסק בקרדומו היה Amar Rabbi Chelbo mis'asek b'kardumo haya. He had a hatchet. תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל שני כהנים בעלי מומין היו מסליעין בעצים Tana d'vei Rabbi Yishmael shnei kohanim ba'alei mumin mayu masli'im b'eitzim. ונשמטה קרדומו של אחד מהן ונפלה שם ויצאה אש ואכלתו V'nishmeta kardumo shel echad meihen v'nafla sham v'yatza eish v'achalato. Again, a similar story, and both to confirm the tradition of רב שמעון בר יוחאי Rav Shimon bar Yochai that what? Where is the ארון Aron hidden? It is underneath. It's in the Temple Mount. It's buried in the Temple Mount. Where? We know where. Underneath where the לשכת העצים דיר העצים Lishkas HaEitzim Dir HaEitzim was. Underneath where the chamber of wood. So why don't we try to dig? Let's go find it. The ארון Aron. Imagine the man, Moshe's ספר תורה Sefer Torah, לוחות ושברי לוחות luchos v'shivrei luchos. Let's go get it. It'd be unbelievable? So someone did. Look at this story from הארץ Haaretz. Rabbi Getz. Who's Rabbi Getz? Yehuda Meir Getz, the rabbi of the Western Wall. was the rabbi of the Western Wall. What happened? Here's the story. Let's read a little bit together. Firemen manning the two fire trucks dispatched to the Western Wall, June 28th, 1982, were supposed to do when they were told to return to the station. Rabbi Yehuda Getz, the rabbi of the Western Wall who had ordered the fire trucks was also the one that hastily cancelled the order after he discovered the firemen on the way to the Western Wall were Arabs. He feared that his plans to dig under the foundation of the Dome of the Rock in order to find the Holy of Holies and the place where the Temple artifacts have been concealed would be discovered too soon. So he sent them back. Rabbi Getz had managed to keep the secret for only a few weeks. A violent confrontation broke out in the tunnel, which according to the Western Wall rabbi's calculation, led to Ein Eitam, the spring from which the impure priests went to immerse themselves on the way to בית המוקד Beis Mokade on the Temple Mount. The Muslim discovered the breach and dozens of them slid down the opening. Getz and the Yeshiva students were alerted to block the way of the members of the Waqf with their bodies at the end, the turbulent day. That was the only time since 1967 that government officials had tried to tunnel eastward underneath the הר הבית Har Habayis. At that time, it was the official announcement that the huge tunnel under the structure of the Dome of the Rock had been discovered by chance during preparation of a niche for a holy ark at the Western Wall. Right? They wanted to build into the Western Wall an ארון Aron and they discovered a tunnel. Only years later did two members of the committee appointed by the government to investigate disclose that the story about the niche for a holy ark was merely a cover-up for the real story. You ready for the real story? Archaeologist Meir Ben-Dov, the coordinator of the ministerial committee for Jerusalem affairs and Ephraim Shilo, discovered that the tunnel had been opened deliberately. But in order to prevent public relations damage, it was left out of the final conclusion. So what happened? Here we go. Go to the where the arrow. Getz, who served for many years as the rabbi of the כותל Kotel on behalf of the Religious Affairs Ministry, clung ardently to his plans to find the Temple artifacts, refusing to relinquish his program even after the Lubavitcher Rebbe advised him to stop. The Rebbe warned Getz that anyone who found the Temple artifacts was placing his life in danger, although he did make it clear that the finding of the artifacts used in the Temple would bring the Jewish redemption closer. Rabbi Getz writes Volberstein decided to be the atonement for the Jewish people, to search for the artifacts and do whatever he could to speed up the redemption. He was waiting for the right moment to open the tunnel in the easterly direction. In other words, he knew this גמרא Gemara and יומא Yuma, whoever would find it would surely die, but he was willing to die in order to hasten the redemption by returning the ארון Aron to the Jewish people. So what happens? In July of 1981, the small niche for a holy ark was carved into the wall. Opposite the spot where Rabbi Getz believed the Holy of Holies was located. Immediately after it began, an opening was created and a huge easter eastward tunnel carved into the rock under the Mount was discovered. Its dimensions were impressive: 28 meters long and 6 meters wide. The floor of the tunnel was covered with a great deal of water and mud. I immediately approached the place and was seized by an enormous excitement. For a long time I sat unable to move with burning tears pouring down my cheeks. I finally gathered up strength and entered. I sat on the steps and said תיקון חצות Tikkun Chatzos as is our custom. First people brought in on the secret were then director general of religious affairs ministry and the two chief rabbis, Rabbi Goren and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Goren was excited by the discovery as was Getz. He viewed the tunnels as a primary means to locate the precise location of the Holy of Holies. Agreement on the matter would decide once and for all the dispute among rabbinic authorities concerning the major issue. It would also make it possible to define for the general public the boundaries which would be permitted to enter the Temple Mount, thus abolishing the sweeping prohibition imposed by almost by most authorities on Jews entering any part of the Temple Mount. Turn the page. The floor of the tunnel was covered with mud and water, which was removed by hand. The circle of those privy to the secret grew. Among them was Israel radio reporter, who participated in uncovering the tunnel. At night after my work at the radio station, I came to the tunnel using hose and wheelbarrows helped with the difficult work of cleaning the tunnel. Seven weeks after the discovery of the tunnel, news about it was broadcast. Reporters from all over the world streamed to the site. In late August, Arabs brought water hoses, very powerful lighting into the tunnel, through one of the openings on the floor of the Temple Mount. Getz, who feared the entry of Arabs into the tunnel, ordered the opening had been made by boarded up. Just a few hours later, Muslims reentered the tunnel. And you can keep reading the article, but you see it led to nothing. other than a great controversy. September 95, three days after completing the construction of Beit El yeshiva for the study of קבלה Kabbalah, Rabbi Getz passed away. In the Western Wall tunnels, there remains to this day the synagogue that he built, opposite the spot where the Holy of Holies is assumed to be. Torah classes and prayers are still held there. So there have been attempts, and you see that they were they were not successful. What do we follow? Where is the ארון Aron today? Ethiopia, South Africa, Ireland? The UK, France, בבל Bavel? Two opinions in our tradition. Did it go to בבל Bavel or is it buried in the Temple Mount? The רמב\"ם Rambam tells us, source 24, הלכות בית הבחירה Hilchos Beis HaBechira, 4th פרק perek, הלכה א halacha aleph. Writes the רמב\"ם Rambam, אבן היתה בקדש הקדשים במערבו שעליה היה ארון מונח Even hayta b'kodesh hakodoshim b'maaravo she'aleha haya Aron munach. There was a stone in the western part of the Holy of Holies that the ארון Aron was placed on it. What was that called? We said, the אבן השתיה Even Hashsiya, the foundation stone. ולפניה צנצנת המן ומטה אהרן U'lfaneha tzintzenes hamon u'mateh Aharon. And before it was a vial of manna and Aaron's staff were placed there. וכשבנה שלמה את הבית וידע שסופו ליחרב, בנה בו מקום לגנוז בו הארון למטה במטמוניות עמוקות ועקלקלות U'v'eish shebana Shlomo es habayis v'yada she'sofo l'charev, bana bo makom lignoz bo ha'aron l'mata b'matmonios amukos v'akalkalos. יאשיהו המלך צוה וגנזו במקום שבנה שלמה Yoshiyahu hamelech tziva v'ganzuhu b'makom shebana Shlomo. And יאשיהו Yoshiyahu was the one who gave the instruction to hide it, שנאמר she'ne'emar, and he quotes a פסוק pasuk. ונגנז עמו מטה אהרן V'nignaz imo mateh Aharon, והצנצנת ושמן המשחה v'hatzintzenes v'shemen hamishcha, and buried with the ארון Aron are the staff of Aaron, the vial, the canister of manna, a jar of the oil that was used to anoint kings, וכל אלו לא חזרו בבית שני v'chol eilu lo chazru b'bayis sheini. And these things did not return in the time of the second Temple. ואף אורים ותומים שהיו בבית שני לא היו משיבים ברוח הקדש ולא היו נשאלים בהם שנאמר V'af Urim v'Tumim she'hayu b'bayis sheini lo hayu mashivim b'Ruach Hakodesh v'lo hayu nishalim bahem she'ne'emar. and so on. So what does the רמב\"ם Rambam פסק'ן pasken? Where is the ארון Aron today? It is buried in a cavern in the הר הבית Har Habayis that was originally dug by שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech in anticipation. Who gave instruction at the end of בית ראשון Bayis Rishon? יאשיהו Yoshiyahu to bury it there. Why is that our tradition? Why is the רמב\"ם Rambam so sure it's there? Why is it so important to believe that the ארון Aron remains in place? Here we have an insight we close with from Rabbi Soloveitchik. It appears in רב שכטר's Rav Schechter's ספר sefer ארץ הצבי Eretz HaTzvi, source 24. שמעתי מכבוד מורי ורבי הגאון רב יוסף דוב סולובייצ'יק Shamati m'kvod mori v'rabi HaGaon Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, writes רב שכטר Rav Schechter, I heard from my Rebbe, the Rav, דעיקרו של משכן היה הארון עם הלוחות d'ikaro shel mishkan haya ha'aron im haluchos. What was the essence, what was the core of the משכן Mishkan? was the ארון Aron that housed the לוחות luchos. אשר על כן נקרא משכן העדות Ashar al kein nikra Mishkan HaEdus. The whole name of the משכן Mishkan, it is the Tabernacle of testimony, reveals that its essence is that it houses שם לוחות העדות asham luchos ha'edus. עיין ברמב\"ן על התורה שתכלית עשיית המשכן היה להמשיך ענין השרת השכינה שהיתה בשעת מעמד הר סיני בקרב ישראל Aina d'Ramban al haTorah she'tachlis asiyas haMishkan haya l'hamshech inyan hashras haShechina she'hayta b'shaas Maamad Har Sinai b'kerev Yisrael. The essential purpose of the משכן Mishkan is the continuity of the experience of הר סיני Har Sinai, is to continue to receive the Torah over and over and over again. ועיקר מעמד הר סיני היה מתן תורה V'ikar Maamad Har Sinai haya Matan Torah. What was the core of הר סיני Har Sinai? Receiving the Torah. ועל כן עיקרו של בית המקדש, צריך שיהיה בו ארון עם הלוחות V'al kein ikaro shel Beis HaMikdash, tzorech she'yihe bo Aron im luchos. So what is the essence of the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash? What drives the קדושה kedusha? What gives the holiness of the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash? What brings the presence of the Almighty? is the ארון Aron. ובית המקדש בלי לוחות אינו בית המקדש U'Beis HaMikdash bli luchos, eino Beis HaMikdash. If you have a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash with no לוחות luchos, if you have a shul that doesn't have a ספר תורה sefer Torah, it's not a shul. It houses the ספר תורה sefer Torah. If you have a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash without a לוחות luchos, it's not a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. It is the לוחות luchos and all that they represent of Torah and illuminating Torah that gives the energy that is the engine, the spiritual engine that drives the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. ואף דבבית שני היה חסר הארון עם הלוחות, אותו הוא שכמבואר בגמרא יומא...פלוגתא דתנאי ארון גלה לבבל או שנגנז במקומו V'af d'b'bayis sheini haya chaser ha'aron im haluchos, oso hu she'k'movar b'Gemara Yuma...pluga d'tannai Aron gala l'Bavel o she'nignaz bimkomo. So the Rav explained, how did the רמב\"ם Rambam know that? How did the רמב\"ם Rambam know which to pasken like? Did the ארון Aron go to בבל Bavel or did the ארון Aron remain in the in the הר הבית Har Habayis? Writes said the Rav, the רמב\"ם Rambam knew because he knew a בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash without an ארון Aron is נישקן בית המקדש nishkan Beis HaMikdash. A בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash without an ארון Aron can't function, it's missing its engine. So the בית שני Bayis Sheini did have the ארון Aron. It didn't have the ארון Aron on top of the אבן שתיה Even Shtiya in the קדש הקדשים Kodesh Hakodoshim. It didn't have the ארון Aron with the poles peeking through the פרוכת paroches. It didn't have the ארון Aron that the כהן גדול kohein gadol saw on יום כיפור Yom Kippur. But the ארון Aron was נגנז nignaz, was still in its place. אלא דבבית ראשון היה ארון במקומו הראוי בקדש הקדשים, ובבית שני היה ארון שלא במקומו, למטה. אבל על כל פנים היה שם ארון, ארון עם הלוחות Ela d'b'Bayis Rishon haya Aron b'mkomo haraui b'Kodesh Hakodoshim. U'v'Bayis Sheini haya Aron she'lo b'mkomo, l'mata. Aval al kol panim haya sham Aron, Aron im luchos. והיות שבית כנסת גדר קדושתו בבחינת מקדש מעט V'heyos she'Beis Knesses geder kedushaso b'vchinas Mikdash me'at, אף בית כנסת בעינן שיהא שם ארון עם ספר תורה af Beis Knesses b'inan she'yehe sham Aron im sefer Torah. ובית כנסת שאין בו ארון וספר תורה, אי אפשר שיהיה לו קדושת בית כנסת U'Beis Knesses she'ein bo Aron v'Sefer Torah, ein efshar she'yehe lo kedushas Beis Knesses. A shul that doesn't have a Torah doesn't have the sanctity of a shul. The laws are the sanctity of a shul. An ארון Aron with a Torah. So we saw, we saw the construction of the ארון Aron, we saw what it housed, we saw its journey, we narrowed the window of when it disappeared, we then studied its theories of where it went, we concluded with the suggestions in our tradition. Did it go to בבל Bavel with נבוכדנצר Nevuchadnetzar or was it hidden? The רמב\"ם Rambam paskens it was hidden. שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech already anticipating the need built a hiding place. יאשיהו Yoshiyahu instructed it to be hidden, and the רמב\"ם Rambam paskens that is the authoritative position. How did the רמב\"ם Rambam know that? The insight of the Rav because it couldn't have had a בית שני Bayis Sheini if there was no ארון Aron. And we extrapolate a lesson for our shuls until today.
