Question

To Rabbi Dr. Michael Abraham
 
I read your interesting books, “God Plays Dice” and “The Science of Freedom,” and I enjoyed the ideas presented in them.
 
I don’t know whether you’re the right person who can help me try to advance an idea that, in my opinion, has a high likelihood of being carried out, but since you deal with philosophical topics connected to proofs for the existence of God,
I have an argument for you that I would like to get your thoughts on.
 
Today, in the world of postmodern opinions, there is ostensibly no single truth, and the legitimacy of faith is struggling against skeptics and rationalists who argue that science is the only tool for knowing reality, along with various philosophical claims meant to show that there is no real criterion that can demonstrate that a Creator of the world truly exists. And those who wish to argue against them do so with philosophical tools, using logic and common sense.
But nobody has any direct proof for the existence or nonexistence of any Creator of the world at all.
 
The Creator of the world revealed Himself to select individuals, and even that only partially. And the only time the Creator was revealed publicly was at Mount Sinai, according to our faith.
When I look for the connection between this physical world and the spiritual world above, you can find it in each of us — I mean the soul that each and every one of us has, even though we have no instrument that can measure the existence of the soul scientifically.
Another connection between the higher spiritual world and our world existed in the past, and I mean the Divine Presence that dwelled among the Jewish people.
The Divine Presence is essentially the manifestation of God in this world according to Judaism: “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”
Sadly, after the destruction of the First Temple there was no longer an open indwelling of the Divine Presence according to the Sages, but on the other hand, “Wherever Israel was exiled, the Divine Presence went with them,” and the Divine Presence suffered together with the Jewish people in their distress.
In fact, the only place where the Divine Presence was openly present and where there was actually a manifestation of God in this world (and proof that He exists) was in the Temple, in the Holy of Holies above the Ark of the Covenant, between the cherubs.
The Ark of the Covenant
In my opinion, of all the estimated places where the Ark of the Covenant might be, it is probably still under the Temple Mount in a tunnel dug deep underground beneath the Holy of Holies.
As is well known, tradition says that toward the end of the First Temple period the Ark of the Covenant was hidden beneath the site of the Temple.
From Wikipedia:
“In fact, there are hints in Scripture, as interpreted by the Sages, that the Ark of the Covenant was hidden by King Josiah. Thus it says in II Chronicles, chapter 35, verse 3:
‘And he said to the Levites, who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord: Put the holy Ark in the House that Solomon son of David, king of Israel, built; you no longer need to carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel.’
The Sages understood that ‘Put the holy Ark in the House’ must mean hiding it in tunnels beneath the House, since the Ark had originally already been in the House. And this is what they said about it (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 52b; and also Horayot 12a):
‘And who hid it? Josiah hid it. What did he see that led him to hide it? He saw that it is written (Deuteronomy 28), “The Lord will lead you and your king whom you set over you,” so he arose and hid it, as it is said (II Chronicles 35), “And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord: Put the holy Ark in the House that Solomon son of David king of Israel built; you no longer need to carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel.”’
And the Jerusalem Talmud (Shekalim, chapter 6, halakha 1) says that the Ark was hidden in the wood-storage chamber of the Temple and explains:
‘He said to them: If it goes with you into exile to Babylonia, you will never return it again to its place; therefore, now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel.’
The Radak summarized these matters in his commentary on the verse:
‘And our Sages of blessed memory explained that he commanded them to hide the Ark so that it would not go into exile with the exiles. And they said: There was a stone in the Holy of Holies on its western side, and the Ark rested upon it, and before it were the jar of manna and Aaron’s staff. And when Solomon built the House, knowing that it would ultimately be destroyed, he built a place to hide the Ark below, in deep and winding hidden chambers. And that stone was a cover for that place, and King Josiah commanded that they hide the Ark in that place that Solomon had built, as it says, “Put the holy Ark [in the House],” and they hid with the Ark Aaron’s staff and the jar of manna and the anointing oil.’
 
How will we prove that God exists? We’ll find the Ark of the Covenant!!!!
 
In my opinion, the technology that currently exists in Israel’s hands alone is capable of identifying cavities and tunnels underground — the classified military technology currently used to find enemy tunnels dug in Gaza and on the Lebanese border.
We should use this technology and try to locate the Ark of the Covenant under the Temple Mount. In my opinion, such a discovery would have a tremendous impact on the Jewish people, on immigration from the Diaspora, and on strengthening the belief of the nations of the world in the importance and holiness of the Jewish people.
I think we should show through these searches our intense desire for the rebuilding of the Temple, and with heavenly assistance we may be able to find this holy item and thereby advance the vision of building the Third Temple. In my humble opinion, building the Temple has to begin from below, and this is the way to begin it. And if this finds favor in the eyes of the Creator of the world, there is no doubt that we will receive divine assistance in finding the Ark of the Covenant.
This is the path I would take in order to advance the Temple vision, and after we find the Ark, a situation will effectively be created in which every person and every community will have to choose a side: whether they believe what is written in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and in the vision of the prophets, or whether they oppose it.
 
To sum up:
 

1. According to Jewish belief, it was possible to see/feel God within the reality of this world through the Ark of the Covenant.
2. The Ark is not found today, but there is a high probability that it is hidden beneath the Temple Mount.
3. Today there is military technology that makes it possible to find and locate tunnels and objects underground.
4. If we can get the security forces to invest effort in this direction, there is a reasonable chance of finding the Ark.

 
 
I would be glad to hear your response.
 
Best regards,