Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch has demanded that the Israel Museum transfer a rare Second Beis Hamikdash-era stone bearing the inscription “To the Place of Trumpeting” to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. Its return would complete a wider campaign to bring four original Kotel stones back from government institutions and museums.

The stone was discovered near the southwestern corner of the Har HaBayis compound and is believed to have marked the location where a kohen sounded a trumpet to announce the beginning and end of Shabbos and Jewish holidays. The surviving Hebrew inscription reads “לבית התקיעה להב…,” translated as “To the Place of Trumpeting,” with the final word left incomplete.

Three other large stones have already been returned from the Knesset, the Defense Ministry’s Kirya headquarters and the President’s Residence. The stone displayed at the Israel Museum is considered the final and most historically recognizable artifact still awaiting transfer.

Rabinovitch and Israel’s chief rabbis have argued for years that stones originating from the Kotel should not remain on display elsewhere. “A stone from the Western Wall does not belong in the Knesset or anywhere else. Its place is among the stones of the Western Wall, stored beside the Western Wall,” Rabinovitch previously wrote. The Israel Antiquities Authority has also reportedly supported returning the stone to the Kotel area.

The Israel Museum lists the Israel Antiquities Authority as the owner of the artifact, while the museum serves as its custodian and exhibitor.