WEEKLY COMIC: Temple Insurance

More on the Tabernacle Recreation

We anticipate one of the highlights of our trip next weekend will be the Tabernacle Recreation run by Mennonite Information Center of Lancaster, PA. It is a full, life-sized recreation of the Biblical Tabernacle that the Israelite carried with them in the Wilderness and served as their center of worship from the time they left Egypt until Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem. Tabernacle literally means "tent", as the Tabernacle was a mobile temple carried from place to place.

A Different Perspective

Israel displays coins from the destruction of the Temple

One of the least popular of Jesus's sayings were his prophecies about the destruction of the Temple. It was still in place during his crucifixion and Resurrection, but the Temple was destroyed by the Romans about 70 A.D. Now, Israel is displaying coins that survived the destruction and discussing what it tells us about 1st century Jerusalem.

The coins were excavated from an ancient street below the Temple Mount, experts said. Archaeologists had to sift through debris and remove boulders thrown off the Temple Mount during the Roman raid before they found the road and the hoard of coins...

The coins are part of a larger exhibition in Jerusalem's Archaeological Garden, showing a collection of antique coins that have been uncovered over the past three decades.

The exhibition shows not only coins minted in Jerusalem during the rebellion but also European, North African and Persian coins that were found around the holy site from various periods.

"This just shows the international character of the city," Katz said. "It shows the importance of Jerusalem to generations of people ... the importance of Jerusalem never faded away for Jews, Christians and Muslims," she said.