I'm an Italian gentile believer in HaShem, who commits himself to observe the Noahide Laws, as commanded by the Creator in the Torah.

If I'm not mistaken, according to Jewish sources, the Pentateuch was written by Moses on the dictation of HaShem. Does Jewish tradition report a narrative on what happened to the original manuscript? I think I understood that this text was kept in the first Temple: was it destroyed during the fall of Jerusalem by the Babylonians?


As explained in The Ark King Yoshiahu (Josiah) is supposed to have hidden the Ark and the other items that were with it in secret rooms under the first temple. These were never found during the second temple period and beyond. If the original Torah scroll was placed with the Aron (Ark), then it would be found in the secret chamber when the mashiach comes and the third temple is built.

Tradition records that even as King Solomon built the First Temple, he already knew, through Divine inspiration, that eventually it would be destroyed. Thus Solomon, the wisest of all men, oversaw the construction of a vast system of labyrinths, mazes, chambers and corridors underneath the Temple Mount complex. He commanded that a special place be built in the bowels of the earth, where the sacred vessels of the Temple could be hidden in case of approaching danger. Midrashic tradition teaches that King Josiah of Israel, who lived about forty years before the destruction of the First Temple, commanded the Levites to hide the Ark, together with the original menorah and several other items1, in this secret hiding place which Solomon had prepared.


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    Why do you think Mashiach will find the room? – Double AA Dec 20 '17 at 13:26
  • @DoubleAA IIRC the next temple is to have the Aron and other items in it and Eliyahu hanavi could say where it is. However, that is not part – sabbahillel Dec 20 '17 at 13:42
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    I don't know why you'd think the next Temple will have those things. Also Eliyahu isn't going to go around telling you any secret you want. That's not how prophecy works. He'll just deliver important messages as God dictates. – Double AA Dec 20 '17 at 13:47
  • @DoubleAA IIRC I have seen a reference that says that the temple will have everything restored including the Aron and the urim v'tum. I will have to try to locate the source. In any case, the scroll would be with the Aron, whether or not it is found. – sabbahillel Dec 20 '17 at 13:54
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    @sabbahillel Are you sure that the Sefer Torah was hidden together with the Aron. Note that according to Rabbi Yehuda (quoted in Bava Batra 14a) the Sefer Torah was not placed within the Aron but instead rested next to it (on the top of the box sent by the Philistines). Thus, according to Rabbi Yehuda, I'm not sure that we can assume that the Sefer Torah was hidden together with the Aron. – Joel K Dec 20 '17 at 14:46

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