LAST JOURNEY OF THE ARK

PROLOGUE “Where do we hide it?” asked David Berg, Director of the Mossad. David Berg was a small man with no hair on the top of his head but neatly trimmed black hair on his temples. He was dressed in a gray suit with a white shirt. His grooming, including fingernails, was meticulous. “We have many possible locations to choose from,” added Julius Samson, recently promoted to head of Shin Bet. He was the youngest head of Shin Bet in its history. Today, he wore a suit. Samson left the butt of his unlit cigar in his mouth when he spoke. “I have a list of potential sites.” He pulled the list from his coat pocket. “We have identified a sepulcher, a cistern, an old reservoir, catacombs, an underground passage, a pit, a cave, and a few other sites as well.” “I’ve developed a few criteria for which site we choose,” said Berg. “Based on what?” asked the rabbi. Rabbi Cowen was the chief Orthodox rabbi of the state of Israel. Cowen had all-white hair, beard and mustache. “Based on each of our concerns,” said Berg. “What do you perceive as my concerns?” asked the Rabbi. “First, only Orthodox rabbis can move the Ark according to religious law,” said Berg. “That’s obvious,” said Rabbi Cowen with a dismissive wave of his hand. “The real concern is—can I find Orthodox rabbis who are not terrified to touch it. But I will try.” “Secondly, it must be hidden somewhere that it cannot be found until the time is right. We discussed hiding it in a Genizah but decided against it because such a storage place is too modern a concept to be believable. Third, you want to be assured that only someone among the Orthodox rabbis finds it or are called in when it’s found. You don’t want conservative or liberal rabbis claiming that God had favored them with finding the Ark. Finally, it should appear to have been hidden at a time consistent with when it disappeared from the pages of scripture,” Berg finished. “I’m impressed. You’ve done your homework,” said Rabbi Cowen as he rubbed his white beard. “What about us?” said Julius Samson of Shin Bet. Leaning forward intently, Rabbi Cowen said, “You don’t want word of this operation getting out to anyone. It must be done in absolute secrecy. Secondly, you want to be able to monitor this location to insure that no one finds the Ark. I would imagine that you would like some type of security alarm or other device put in with the Ark to alert you if someone manages to find it . . . but that would invalidate our claims that the Ark had been in this location since antiquity.” “True,” said Sid Abrams, director of the Israeli Antiquity Authority. Sid was the son of Yemenite Jews that had migrated to Israel many years ago. He had very curly hair and olive skin. “What about us?” asked Sid. “Of course, your first concern is preservation. You’ll want to view the Ark, and perhaps take a small sample . . .” Rabbi Cowen cleared his throat. “ . . . to test for deterioration of the wood beneath the gold overlay. This information will help you to preserve the Ark.” “You would also want to test the age of this Ark,” added Berg. “Yes, I must admit to some doubt that this is the original Ark of the Covenant that our Torah describes. It could be the replica,” said Sid Abrams. At this, Rabbi Cowen raised his eyebrow. Berg thought a moment, and then said, “Suppose we find that what we have is a replica that is only three thousand years old. It would still be the only Ark that Israel has.” "Precisely,” said Rabbi Cowen. “I must also remind my esteemed colleague that desecration of any artifact, in any manner, for any purpose, is forbidden. Besides, what Jew would be foolish enough to desecrate the Ark?” “I still have other concerns,” said Abrams. Berg nodded in understanding. “Yes, you want it put in a place where the environment would preserve it from any decay or catastrophe by natural or manmade means. I would expect that you also want the context of the area where we hide the Ark to match the age of the Ark. Age of the surrounding media needs to be considered.” “What does the Mossad want?” asked Abrams. "I am here for four reasons,” Berg replied. “One is to act as a mediator between any of your conflicting interests. Two is to lend our technical expertise to achieve this mission. The third reason is that I am here at the behest of the prime minister; he wants me to assure each of you that you will certainly be alerted before our country announces that we have found the Ark. Finally, I need to report a satisfactory resolution of this urgent matter to the prime minister. Also . . .” Berg leaned back in his chair with a slight smile on his face. “ . . . I think I’ve found just the place.” HOW I T BEGAN October 8, 1988 New York City, New York Ethel Feldman entered Heidelman’s Jewelry shop on 48th Street in New York City, humming a Broadway show tune. She was wearing her father’s heavy, black tweed coat. Burt Heidelman stood behind a display case, cleaning the glasstop. He was a small, heavyset, bald man with a thin mustache. When the doorbell jingled, he looked up at this black-haired, green-eyed beauty. “What are you doing on these mean streets this late?” he called to her. FOR MORE GO TO JJGAINER.COM