Monday, May 15, 2017

Opening of the Vatican menorah exhibition

NO. NEXT QUESTION: Can Vatican display shed light on the fate of the Menorah? Starting Monday, a co-hosted exhibit about sacred Temple relic sets a new precedent for cooperation between the Holy See and Rome’s Jewish community (ROSSELLA TERCATIN, Times of Israel). Despite the clickbait headline (for which I do not hold the author responsible), this is a good article on the “Menorah: Cult, History and Myth” exhibition by the Vatican and the Jewish Museum of Rome, which opens today.

Background on the exhibition is here. A few other recent posts on the lost Temple menorah are here, here, and here. Follow the links in those posts for much more on the Temple menorah and on ancient menorahs in general.

UPDATE: Incorrect link now fixed!

Just to be clear, my comments above were directed at the claim that the Vatican knows something it isn't telling about the fate of the golden menorah looted by the Romans from the Jerusalem Temple. There is no reason to think the Vatican has the menorah or any special information about it. Follow the background links above for details.

The exhibition sounds very informative about the history of the menorah in general.