Darius inscription shard isn’t authentic ..."Venehepach Hu"

 

The Israel Antiquities Authority said Friday that an ancient shard bearing the name of the Persian king Darius the Great that was announced this week to much fanfare was “not authentic.”

In the Wednesday announcement, the authority said the fragment found by a hiker in Israel’s Judean lowlands region was the first discovery of an inscription bearing the name of Darius I anywhere in Israel.

Darius was the father of King Ahaseurus, widely considered the biblical Achashverosh from the story of Purim, which Jews will celebrate next week. Archeological groups in Israel have a habit of announcing finds connected to Jewish festivals close to the dates of the celebrations.

The Israel Antiquities Authority said Friday that an ancient shard bearing the name of the Persian king Darius the Great that was announced this week to much fanfare was “not authentic.”

In the Wednesday announcement, the authority said the fragment found by a hiker in Israel’s Judean lowlands region was the first discovery of an inscription bearing the name of Darius I anywhere in Israel.

Darius was the father of King Ahaseurus, widely considered the biblical Achashverosh from the story of Purim, which Jews will celebrate next week. Archeological groups in Israel have a habit of announcing finds connected to Jewish festivals close to the dates of the celebrations.

The site of the find, the ancient city of Lachish, was a prosperous city and a major administrative hub 2,500 years ago. The inscription was believed to be a receipt for goods received or shipped.

The ostracon, a potsherd that was used as a writing surface, bears an Aramaic inscription that reads “Year 24 of Darius,” which would have dated it to 498 BCE.

However, on Friday, the IAA said that following the publication of the find they were approached by an expert who participated in an excavation expedition last August, who informed the authority that she had created the inscription “while demonstrating to a group of students the manner in which sherds were inscribed in ancient times.”

“She then left the sherd on the site, which led to the erroneous identification. She was questioned and said this was done unintentionally and without malice,” the statement said.

“The IAA takes full responsibility for the unfortunate event,” said Prof. Gideon Avni, the antiquities authority’s chief scientist, who noted the piece had been examined by two leading researchers.

“As an institution that strives for the scientific truth, we are committed to correcting the mistake that was made and making it known to the public,” he said.

“In terms of ethical and scientific practices, we see this as a very severe occurrence. Leaving the newly inscribed sherd on the site was careless, and led to the mistake done by the researchers and distorted the scientific truth,” Avni said.

“This once again proves that only finds discovered in controlled archaeological excavations should be considered 100% authentic. All other finds should raise questions regarding their authenticity,” he said.

Avni said the incident highlighted the problem of identifying new inscriptions on ancient finds and said the incident “will refresh proper procedures and policies with all foreign expeditions working in the country.”

Darius I reigned from 522–486 BCE, during which time the Persian Achaemenid Empire grew rapidly to encompass a large swath of the ancient world. But no written evidence of Darius’ reign has ever been found in Israel.

The hiker who found the shard, Eylon Levy, international media adviser to President Isaac Herzog, was strolling in Tel Lachish in central Israel last December when he picked up a stone that seemed to have strange markings on it. When he looked closer, he saw that it was a piece of pottery with scratches that could be writing.

Levy found the ostracon in the remains of the Persian royal administration building at Tel Lachish, which was first excavated in 1930 and has hosted hundreds of archaeologists through the decades.

“Funnily enough, [the potsherd] was right there, directly next to the wooden pergola that had been built for the visitors,” Levy told The Times of Israel last week after being informed by the IAA that it was authentic. “It was right there, right under everyone’s noses this whole time.”

Tel Lachish hosts tens of thousands of visitors each year, and a new visitor’s center is expected to open in the coming months.

Melanie Lidman contributed to this report

Before the internet and before Leiby Kletzky there was a MURDER in 1986. The largest cover-up perpetrated by frum jews in the 20th century. The murderer is still free. WHY?

 

I have been in touch with Chaim's classmates in the last 24 hours, and if we keep up this momentum, we will be able to finally resolve this atrocity! (See side bar on the case)

The classmates have formed a chat and are anxious to get to the bottom of this. 

We need anyone who knows anything even if you think it is "nothing" to come forward, it might actually be part of a puzzle. 

We are also looking for Chaim's fellow summer campers, some believe that his last camp experience may very well be crucial to the case.

We are looking for people who can pressure Rabbi Avraham Cooper, who lives in Lakewood, to talk about his last private conversation with Chaim z"l, even though Cooper is elderly, he must talk and talk now. Asking people from Lakewood to give us info where Creepy Cooper davens. 

To my women readers: 

You are all, hopefully, mothers, and I'm asking you to find it in your hearts to help your sister, also a mother, who had her son brutally murdered. As mothers you can break this wall of silence. If your husband learned in Long Beach and is in his 50s, he may know something. If he went to camp with Chaim, Chaim may have confided with him some of his fears. 

This week will be Parshas Zachor! 

We must also remember that a Jewish child whose name means "life" was never given the chance to be a father. Was never given the opportunity to be a star amongst his Jewish brothers and sisters, but instead his neshama was mercilessly snuffed out by a murderer who is still enjoying his life!

For those familiar with the case, just know, the polish janitor has been ruled out of the equation. Also ruled out is the theory that it was an antisemitic incident! Also ruled out was robbery. 

All now agree that it was an inside job, perpetrated by a fellow classmate or a staff member. 

Meaning that this was done by a "Shomer Torah Umitzvois!. 

He must face justice, no matter his age, how big his beard is, or how big of a family he has or how long ago this happened! 

Please email dusiznies@aol.com 

Zera Shimshon Parshas Tezaveh

 

Councilman Ari Kagan who ditched Democrats punished by NYC Council speaker

 

The Democratic leader of the City Council is punishing Brooklyn Councilman Ari Kagan for switching to the Republican Party — stripping him of his committee chairmanship and relegating him to a smaller office, The Post has learned.

Kagan said Council Speaker Adrienne Adams was behind the decision to remove him as chair of the panel on resiliency and waterfront after he announced in December he’d ditched the Democrats over their far left, soft-on-crime policies despised by many of his pro-law and order constituents in southern Brooklyn.

“It shows pettiness! Nothing is happening in the New York City Council without permission from the Speaker. It’s the Speaker’s decision of course,” Kagan told The Post.

Kagan said he was also removed from the committees on land use, finance, housing and buildings — and that a resiliency and waterfront panel he headed was disbanded and merged with the environmental protection committee.

He was reassigned to other committees: fire prevention & management, technology and veterans affairs. 

Frum Father, 2 Young Sons Killed in Phoenix Home Fire

 

A frum father and two of his sons were tragically taken from us in a late-night residential home fire near 35th and Northern avenues in Phoenix on Wednesday night.

The victims were identified as Shimon Boyer z”l, 7-year-old Dov Ber z”l, and 8-year-old Nachman z”l.

Firefighters arrived at the scene to find the townhome filled with smoke and flames emanating from the windows. After extinguishing the fire, they discovered Shimon and four children during their search of the condo.

Shimon z”l was declared deceased at the scene, and three boys and one girl found by firefighters were rushed to a nearby children’s hospital in critical condition. Sadly, Dov Ber and Nachman passed away at the hospital, while the other two remain in critical condition, aged between 5 and 12.

Firefighters found no indication that the fire was intentionally set, and the Phoenix Police Department has taken over the investigation.

Please daven for Tamar Tzadika bas Yael Miriam and Shevach Tzion Yisroel ben Yael Miriam b’soch she’ar cholei Yisroel.

Listen to the Eulogy by parents of the murdered Elan Ganeles

 

🕯Funeral of #Elan Ganeles.🕯
The world lost a beautiful soul this week to a senseless act of #Palestinian #terrorism.

May Elan's memory forever be a blessing.🕯 pic.twitter.com/FRg1TISghx

— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) March 2, 2023

The demonstrators are a minority, even if they bring their children with them.You lost the election, come to terms with it

 

Curiouser and curiouser. The vocal media is concentrating on photos of the losing side of the election in Tel Aviv. Such a display is similar to that in Washington when Trump lost, and how they marched on the elected symbol of power.

But this is Israel. We don’t see the northern and southern cities and towns turned upside down in protest as in America. In fact they are the ones who voted the current government in. They have years of frustration to settle and settle it they did – in the ballot box.

So what if a few hundred thousand demonstrate and keep on clogging up the streets in Tel Aviv, then bus to Jerusalem to continue their protest. The statistics show that millions, not hundreds of thousands voted right.

The demonstrators are a minority, even if they bring their children with them.

A young man was asked what he was doing in the middle of the demonstration as he obviously belonged to what is called the Second Israel (you know, those religious and the Sephardic Jews, second rate all). “Selling them bagels” was his reply. Good for him!

The past has gone, that past wherein people in power in the highest echelons of the army, the top judiciary, the academia, media, public service and wherever one needed to get anywhere : these people gave preferential treatment to their own. They are the ones standing up and leading the mob who are in the streets.

The disenfranchised, three generations after being disadvantaged now are well-educated, financially stable, have representation in the Knesset and do not live in tents or huts as they did in the old days when they were treated badly. They are equals in a democracy, voting as is their right and now, even with all of the big words and the allegations that this is not going to be a democracy, they can and will change the face of the nation to be a fairer and more Jewish nation.

What is the real fear of the Left? It is called demographics. The numbers are stacked up against them.

Whoever is not Leftist belongs to the future majority of Israel. Mothers who have six children together with mothers who have three or four are either religious of some stripe or Mizrachi. The Leftists were more interested in other pursuits, ending up with less children per family. To put it simply, the Left (generally) does not aspire to the values of the Right. That Right, secular or religious, respects Judaism, Shabbat observance, study of Torah, belief in G-d, ownership of the Land of Israel and a lot more.

The Leftists are terrified that in the near future their numbers will never be able to be represented as a majority in the Knesset. That is what all of this noise is all about.

Leonie Ben-Simon

What Happened With the "Re-Opened Case" of the Murdered Chaim Weiss ?

 

The above video, reporting the re-opening of the case was 10 years ago!

Within the last 48 hours I have been in touch with people who have some knowledge with this case. And they believe that it was an inside job. 

Many suspect that the killer was known to Chaim a"h  and may be living in Israel. He should be in his 50s. Some suggested that the killer has since married and divorced. If that is in fact true then he has an ex-wife, who may know something. So if there is divorced lady out there that was married to a Long Beach alumnus that is in his 50s please contact us.  If he did move to Israel and made Aliyah, then he could have changed his name at that time, making it harder to track him down, but his ex would have his updated information.

The people who got in touch with me actually named an individual that they suspect is the killer, who was a student there at the time. This individual in fact did marry and did get divorced and did move to Israel.

I am asking former classmates, especially former campers or staff members to contact me at 

dusiznies@aol.com

The parents are getting older and need closure.

I also need more information on the principal Rabbi Avram Cooper who moved to Lakewood, and is retired, he for sure knows a lot but refused to talk to a reporter in 2017.

Here is a link for more interesting tidbits about this tragic case:

 

Exclusive: Dad of 15-year-old killed in LI Yeshiva dorm haunted by mysterious events leading up to 1986 murder | PIX11

Someone did blog about the case, read the very hair-raising comments on that post 

33 years ago, Chaim Weiss was found murdered in his dormitory bedroom. : UnresolvedMysteries (reddit.com)

Below find video explaining why the killer must have been a frum Jew and maybe even a student. 

 

Just in Time for Purim 2,500-year-old potshard bearing name of King Ahasuerus' father found in central Israel.

 

In December 2022, Eylon Levy, international media advisor to the President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog, and his friend Yakov Ashkenazi, visited the Tel Lachish National Park and chanced on a small potsherd with some inscribed letters.

When they reported it to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the ostracon was examined in the advanced Analytical Laboratory and studied by Saar Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Dr. Haggai Misgav of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

To their astonishment, it turned out to be a rare find furnishing evidence for the Persian royal administration at Lachish in the Achaemenid period, at the turn of the fifth century BCE.

The Aramaic inscription on the fired potsherd reads “Year 24 of Darius,” dating it to 498 BCE. The short text thus records the name of the Persian king Darius the Great (Darius I), the father of Ahasuerus—also known as the biblical Achashverosh from the Book of Esther, which is read annually on the Jewish festival of Purim.

This is the first discovery of an inscription bearing Darius the Great's name anywhere in the Land of Israel.

The "Healthy Jew" Opens Whatsapp group

 

The Healthy Jew has opened a Whastapp group! See below for more info and the links

You Are How Much You Eat

In his code of Jewish law and thought, Maimonides devoted an entire chapter of The Laws of Character Traits to healthy lifestyle instructions. Choosing health, he began, “is from the ways of God - because when one is sick it’s impossible to understand or know anything about the Creator.” “The ways of God” isn’t a generic Maimonidean stamp of approval; the term refers to the biblical commandment to balance every character trait according to the mind’s guidance. In The Healthy Jew’s debut column, we learned how entering humanity requires employing the mind to guide the body toward health - so healthy choices obviously play a critical role in emulating God’s ways. This central principle deserves careful contemplation. (I’m currently working on a deep-dive series on the topic. Stay tuned.) Today, however, I want to jump straight into Maimonides’ instructions. Let’s be Walkers, not just Talkers. This is Maimonides’ first principle of healthy living: A person should never eat unless he’s hungry and shouldn’t drink unless he’s thirsty. Several lines later, he begins advising on diet in detail: A person shouldn’t eat until his stomach is filled but should withhold at around a quarter from fullness. Later on, concluding his advice on nutrition and exercise: Another principle of physical health: if a person exerts himself a lot and isn’t satiated and his bowels are loose, sickness won’t fall on him and his strength will increase, even if he eats bad foods. After adding that overeating is “like poison and is the primary source of all disease,” Maimonides concludes by expounding on Proverbs (21:23): Solomon said in his wisdom, “One who guards his mouth and tongue has guarded himself from troubles.” This refers to guarding his mouth from eating bad foods or satiation, and his tongue from talking more than necessary. Food quantity, Maimonides tells us, is a critical component of healthy living - even more than food quality. (Important caveat: eating disorders like anorexia are possibly far more prevalent today than in the Middle Ages. So it’s particularly vital to take this advice with balance.)