IS THE VATICAN HIDING TEMPLE ARTIFACTS?

"Chief rabbis" from Israel want to search Vatican storerooms for long lost Temple artifacts:

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....

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....

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.

While I'd love to go poking around the Vatican storerooms, too, I'd say that menorah was destroyed long, long ago. They might as well search for the Ark (in either Ethiopia or that big, big warehouse in Washington, DC).

Of course the ultimate motive for the search is clear:

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.

American evangelicals would be happy for that, of course. Such a scenario plays into their premillenial fancies. And I think you'd have several thousand Muslims raising, um, objections to the Temple's rebuilding.