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b'ezrat HaShem / with the help of G‑d

An Exciting Discovery From
the Holy Temple Mount in Jerusalem:

A Half Shekel From the Year 66 ce, the First Year of the Great Jewish Revolt Against the Romans, Was Discovered on the Holy Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

For the first time since the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 ce a half-shekel coin from the year 66 CE was discovered on the site of the Holy Temple Mount. This treasured coin was found in the debris that was thrown out from the Temple Mount into the Kidron Valley by the Arabs when they illegally excavated on the Temple Mount in 1999 and desecrated the holy mountain of G‑d. The dig was carried out with the explicit goal to deny the existence of the Jewish Temples on the Temple Mount by converting the area called "Solomon Stables" (which were never actual stables but rather were an important part of the 2nd Temple complex built by King Herod) into a huge mosque. It caused severe archaeological damage to the ancient layers of the holy mountain, including the remains of the 1st and 2nd Temples. The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement petitioned the Supreme Court in Israel many times in order to immediately stop these barbaric and destructive diggings. Unfortunately the weak Israeli authorities were afraid that if they stopped this horrendous vandalism, it would cause an Arab-Islamic reaction that would soon grow into worldwide condemnation of Israel. Again the Israeli government yielded to human pressure and lacked trust in the Almighty G‑d of Israel with His eternal promises to Israel not to allow any power in the world to gain control over the people and the Land of Israel.

Four years ago, however, Israeli archaeologists Dr. Barkai and Dr. Tsveig from Bar Ilan University in Israel commenced a project of filtering the debris that was discarded from the Temple Mount in order to recover any valuable artifacts from the 1st and 2nd Temples. Four days before Chanukah 2008, they discovered among many other finds the treasured half-shekel coin that was minted in the year 66 ce — the first year of the Jewish Great Revolt against the Romans that ended in 70 ce when the Romans destroyed the Holy Temple. Such coins were previously discovered in other locations in Israel. However, the unique significance of this half-shekel coin is that it is the first time that a half-shekel was discovered from the exact locality of the Temple Mount.

On one side of this half-shekel (top photo) appears a branch with three pomegranates and around them is written in ancient Hebrew "The Holy Jerusalem" (Yerushalayim Kedosha). Engraved on the other side of the coin (bottom photo) is a goblet containing the "Omer" (the first-cut harvest in the Land of Israel that was offered to G‑d in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem). Around the goblet is written in ancient Hebrew "The Half-Shekel". The coin is still in good condition, despite the fact that it had been damaged by fire. It was so sad to realize that it was the fire that destroyed the 2nd Temple by the Romans in the year 70 ce. Finding the burnt coin was like receiving an exciting message from our forefathers who experienced this terrible fire and destruction when they protected the most holy site of the G‑d of Israel. It is a message that calls to our generation from the generation of the destruction: "Never Again!"

This is also a message from the G‑d of Israel and the generation of the destruction of the Holy Temple to our generation saying: The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the exact location of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Temples and it calls us to rebuild the Temple on this spot without delay. (The Arab PLO and Hamas are not ashamed to deny the clear fact that the ancient Jewish Temples existed on this exact location. They are experts in creating historical lies and propaganda to promote their political purposes.)

The commandment of the G‑d of Israel to His people regarding the offering of the half-shekel appears in the Torah as follows:

"And the L‑rd spoke to Moses, saying, When thou dost take the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul to the L‑rd, when thou dost number them; that there be no plague among them, when thou dost number them. This they shall give, every one that passes among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gera:) a half shekel shall be the offering of the L‑rd. Every one that passes among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give the offering of the L‑rd. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give the offering of the L‑rd, to make atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial to the children of Israel before the L‑rd, to make atonement for your souls." Exodus 30:11-16

To date we have discovered from the debris of the Temple Mount 3,500 additional coins from ancient times, but the half-shekel is the most unique discovery of coinage since the year 70 ce and this makes it extremely important and exciting. It is not an accident that this coin was discovered together with many other exciting biblical artifacts that have been found within the Temple Mount debris and around the Temple Mount, in the City of David, in Jerusalem and all over the Land of Israel, in our present time and not during any other period since the destruction of the 2nd Temple and the Kingdom of Israel in 70 ce. These exciting biblical discoveries are a clear call from the G‑d of Israel to His people in our generation to immediately remove His enemy from the Temple Mount, to stop the desecration of His holy mountain and to rebuild His Holy Temple with no delay. More than this, it is a call of G‑d to His people Israel to trust Him and not to fear but rather to reject all human pressure coming from the Arab-Islamic enemies of Israel, President Obama, the European Union, the United Nations and the entire world who are attempting to stop the building in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and any other places in the Land of Israel and to prepare them for the soon coming of Messiah Ben David.

In G‑d we trust!!

The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement P.O. Box 18325, 4 Aliash Street, Jerusalem, Israel Telephone: 02.625.1112 / FAX: 02.625.1113

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