The Vatican and the Temple Vessels

Rabbi Yonasan Shtencel of Jerusalem never imagined that his Talmud learning would lead him to explore the age-old mystery surrounding the disappearance of the vessels of the Beis Hamikdash, the Holy Temple. Are they really hidden in the catacombs of the Vatican in Rome?
Rabbi Shtencel is the owner of a successful pharmaceutical company, and is fortunately able to spend much of his time in learning Torah.
"About three weeks ago I was learning Talmud with my study partner, Rabbi Hirschman, where it talks about Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosi seeing several objects from the Beis Hamikdash: the Menorah, the Table, the tzitz (crown) of the High Priest and the paroches (curtain). They also found the grindstone of Beis Avtinas."

"I thought to myself," continued Rabbi Shtencel, "Wow! This happened almost 2,000 years ago. I wonder where they are today.” I began to do research into the topic and discovered several instances of people claiming to have seen the Temple’s vessels firsthand. For example, there's a famous story about Rabbi Yitzchak Bokovza, zt"l, of Tripoli, Libya. (He passed away in 1930.) In his work Beit Halachmi he recounts having gone to Rome for a wedding, where he met the Pope who took him to the Vatican and showed him the vessels of the Beis Hamikdash. The Arch of Titus, which dates back to the first century, also shows the Romans carrying the Menorah. To me, this obviously meant it was in their possession.

"Being that there’s a new pope now who's supposed to be sympathetic to the Jews and considers Rabbi Skorka of Argentina a good friend, I figured it would be a good time to reach out to the Vatican’s representative in Israel regarding the vessels. I wrote a letter in Hebrew and had it professionally translated, then sent copies to the Vatican in Rome as well as to the Pope's representative in Israel, Papal Nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto. I also sent it via email. I'm not exactly a president or prime minister, but I figured I'd take a chance. Even though it wasn't likely I'd get an answer, a Jew has to do his effort. Amazingly I received a response via fax."

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