After 70 years of searches, the mystery of the fate of the parochet—the ornamental curtain that covers the ark (aron kodesh) containing the Torah scrolls in a synagogue—that was placed over Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl’s coffin when his body was reinterred in Israel has been solved.
According to Israeli daily Israel Hayom, the parochet has been found in the warehouse of the Jewish National Fund building in Tel Aviv.
The parochet disappeared in 1949 after Herzl’s burial in Israel.
Two weeks ago, the Jewish National Fund directorate decided that its historic JNF headquarters in Tel Aviv would be turned into a boutique hotel that would include a museum honoring the history of Zionism.
This week, as the building’s warehouse was being organized, Dr. Arie Ben, a historian who has managed the JNF museum for 30 years, found a piece of gray cloth lying folded underneath a closet. Only after it was unfolded did it become apparent that this was Herzl’s long-lost parochet.
JNF chairman Danny Atar, who has decided that the item will go on permanent display at JNF headquarters, told Israel Hayom, “We have the great privilege of finding this important historical item that links us to the father of Zionism, and reminds us of the fact that without Zionism, there would be no JNF, and without the JNF there would be no Zionism.”
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.