Aron hakodesh

Question:

https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/general/1636561/report-aron-hakodesh-is-hidden-in-ethiopian-church-researchers-claim-to-have-seen-items-used-in-bais-hamikdash.html

This article above appeared on yeshivaworldnews. There was a similar article on Fox News this week about the Aron kodesh being discovered in Ethiopia. Assuming that we can verify that it is indeed the Aron Kodesh (there is much supporting literature beyond this article), do we have any halachic responsibility to try and reclaim it and bring it back to Eretz Yisrael? Or is this a process that will have to play itself out during the times of Mashiach?

Answer:

Frankly I don’t believe the claim that it is the Aron Hakodesh. The Tosefta Sota 13-2 says that Yoshea Hamelech hid it in the vicinity of the Bais Hamikdash. Also the gemora Yuma 54a brings numerous stories about people that got remotely close to the aron and died, and these people were all in the makom hamikdash. They were also kohanim tahorim, and even finding a hint of where it is caused them to die. How much more so, to even think that the Aron Hakodesh, with the holy luchos, that were written by HKB”H Himself, should be stored in a tameh house of avoda zara, and watched by a tameh gentile!? Therefore i would give this idea to much thought.

But even if… we definitely would not be able to bring it back in any case. There is no one around today that is tahor enough to even get close to it.

May H-shem bring moshiach soon and we should all merit seeing the Bais Hamikdash, when the Aron will be in it’s correct place.