Fund Raising Tour in the US for Temple Mount Sifting Project

Aran Yardeni will be coming to the United States for a fundraising tour February 16-28.  He will be in the New York City area February 16-19, and the remainder of the time he will be giving lectures and conducting meetings in the Boston area.
  When we were university students, Aran was my partner in examining the Temple Mount debris just after it was dumped into the Kidron Valley, back in November of 1999.  Since the beginning of the Sifting Project, he has maintained a close association with the project as an assistant archaeologist and group guide.   In addition, he is a remarkable tour guide, providing archaeological and historical tours in and around the city of Jerusalem (http://exploreisrael.info/).
  If you could help him schedule a lecture in your area, or a meeting with people who might be interested in donating to the TMSP, please contact him.  He will be bringing an updated PowerPoint presentation which includes exciting new artifacts found during the past year.   You can contact him at a_r_a_n@yahoo.com 

Thank you in advance for your help,
Zachi

Aran Yardeni

New Article in BeSheva about the Sifting Project

BeSheba weekly newspaper has published an extensive article about the sifting project and the story of how it all started. Here’s the link:

http://www.inn.co.il/Besheva/Article.aspx/7460

 

The earth of the sifting project has created two Humans (ADAMS)

 In Judaism, a person is considered complete  only after marriage. For this reason, one of the  seven blessings recited at  the wedding and  the week after is:

Blessed are You Lord our God Ruler of the World, Creator of Humans.
ברוך אתה ה אלקינו מלך העולם יוצר האדם.

There is a Jewish tradition that  the earth God used to create Adam was taken from the Temple Mount. Well, so far, this earth has already succeeding in bringing together two couples!!!
  The first couple to marry is  Yael Stone and Shmuel Kadoshi. Yael and Shmuel are both staff members  at the project. Shmuel has been working with us for over  a year, and Yael joined us recently. They fell in love immediately.
  Some Jewish communities have a tradition where the groom dabs ashes on his forehead at his wedding. The ashes are applied just before breaking the glass and reciting the following verse:

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her skill.

  The ashes are meant to serve as a reminder of the destruction of the Temple  The  soil from the Temple Mount is characterized  by its fine, grayish and dusty texture. This texture is  due to the large amount of ashes the soil contains, remnants of  the destructions of the First and Second Temples. The level of ashes  have colored all the layers of soil that preceded the destructions. and are found all over Jerusalem . Since the beginning of the Sifting Project many couples have chosen to use   earth from the Temple Mount to practice  this tradition, something that Shmuel and Yael  chose to do as well.
  The second couple that  were  joined together by the earth from  the Temple Mount  are Tzila Reizmovitz and Eran Yaakobi. They were engaged two weeks after Yael and Shmuel and  married two weeks ago. Tzila has been working with us since the beggeningof the Project as a registrar. She is considered one of the  pillars of the project. Eran has been  with us for a year and half , and has become the deputy to  Asaf Avraham, the site manager. It took them some time to finally decide to get together, maybe  because Tzila’s job doesn’t give her a chance to touch the earth  very much.
Jewish tradition relates marriage as rebuilding one of the ruins of Jerusalem. May these two new houses be accompanied with these words from Lecha Dodi: 

Temple of the King, Royal City. Arise! Leave from the ruins of the turmoil.