So Rabbi Blech and his delegation finally succeed in getting the Vatican to agree to show them a sampling of what they've got. It's decided that they will show them the original manuscript of the great medieval work of Miamonides, his Mishneh Torah. The thing is it's such a huge compilation and the Jewish delegation will only have limited time to study it, that they are not sure what part or parts of it they should hone in on. After some consultations with the world's greatest scholars, it's decided that they should examine a particular section that deals with the laws of marriage. Seems that there is some uncertainty there about the three conditions of when a woman is betrothed to a man. Understand that this is a monumental work, both in volume and importance and they are concerned about actually locating that specific section. Meanwhile the Vatican returns to the room with only five pages of the manuscript and it's under glass. They can't even touch a page. Disappointment naturally sets in. But they proceed and lo and behold, the first page under the glass is actually that section about marriage. Coincidence? - maybe? A sign from above? I'll let you decide.
On a final note: The rabbi asks the Vatican rep how many artifacts they have in their possession. (By most accounts it's been estimated that they have about 800 manuscripts and an untold number of items, perhaps including the menorah from the temple looted by Titus, as well as the curtain of the ark with the rip in in it that Titus is said to have made when he slashed it with his sword. Anyhow, the Vatican rep says they have some 6,000,000 pieces. Now they may account for this huge number by counting each page of each manuscript as one item, but the figure itself is staggering. And here's the eerie part:six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust...
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