Golden Menorah from Temple in Vatican?

One of the strangest aspects to this story is the claim the golden menorah that once stood in the Temple in Jerusalem is in the Vatican.



My friend, Dr. Lena Allen Shore was present at this meeting. I'll have to ask her about this when she returns.



From CBS 2: Pope Meets With Israel's Chief Rabbis:



"The audience with Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar was the first by Israel's chief rabbis in the Vatican. The pope met Israel's previous chief rabbis in the Holy Land during his visit in 2000.



Before leaving Israel, the rabbis said they would ask to search Vatican storerooms for artifacts such as the huge golden menorah that stood in the temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.



But Metzger said they didn't mention the menorah.



'We left it to his discretion to find an object that would be important to us,' Metzger said. 'We don't know if it (the menorah) exists but if it does and they decide to give it to us there will be no greater joy for us.'



They were shown manuscripts written by the 12th century Jewish scholar Moses Maimondes and asked that they be lent to Israel.



John Paul told them that in his 25 years as pope 'I have striven to promote Jewish-Catholic dialogue and to foster ever greater understanding, respect and cooperation between us.' "