LECTURES

The Temple Mount is one of the most historically and religiously significant sites in the world. Yet, despite its extraordinary importance, archaeologists have never been able to conduct a systematic archaeological excavation on the Temple Mount itself.

In 1999, during renovation and construction works associated with the expansion of the underground el-Marwani Mosque, approximately 9,000 tons of soil were removed from the Temple Mount by the Waqf using heavy earth-moving equipment. The soil was removed without a preceding archaeological salvage excavation or proper archaeological care, potentially destroying or displacing invaluable archaeological evidence.

 

Together with his friend and colleague Zach Dvira, Aran Yardeni helped uncover and bring public attention to what had happened. They revealed that the soil removed during the renovation works contained a wealth of archaeologically significant material from the long and complex history of the Temple Mount.

This discovery led to the establishment of the Temple Mount Sifting Project, an extraordinary archaeological initiative dedicated to recovering and studying the artifacts hidden within this displaced soil.

As one of the founders of the Temple Mount Sifting Project, Aran will take us behind the scenes of this remarkable story. He will share thrilling stories from the project's beginnings and present fascinating archaeological discoveries that shed new light on the history of the Temple Mount and the many civilizations that left their mark there.

Through the stories behind these discoveries, the lecture reveals how seemingly ordinary soil can preserve extraordinary fragments of history—and how the painstaking work of sifting, identifying, and researching these finds can help us uncover the past.

What would it take to build a community dedicated to the realisation of human unity—in diversity?

Auroville, an international township in South India, was founded with an ambitious vision: to create a place where people from different cultures, backgrounds, and nationalities could live together and explore new ways of being, learning, working, and evolving.

Today, Auroville is recognised as the first and only internationally endorsed ongoing experiment in human unity and the transformation of consciousness.

For moe than14 years, Aran Yardeni, together with his wife Galit, has been volunteering and living in Auroville, where they raised their three children as part of this unique experimental community.

In this engaging and personal lecture, Aran will take us behind the idealistic vision of Auroville and into the reality of an evolving society that is constantly experimenting with new possibilities. Drawing on his diverse experiences as a member of the Awareness Through the Body educational team, a comparative religions teacher, a forester, and an entrepreneur, among other roles, he will share stories, insights, and perspectives from everyday life in Auroville.

The lecture will explore the many dimensions of this ongoing experiment—including architecture, education, economy and finance, ecology, community life, and spirituality—and ask what happens when people attempt to turn the dream of human unity into a living reality.

This lecture invites us to reflect on the way we live and on how we embody our values in everyday life.

David Ben-Gurion is remembered as the founding father of the State of Israel, a visionary leader, and a man deeply engaged with the challenges of building a new society. But beyond his political and public life, Ben-Gurion was also a curious and unconventional thinker, fascinated by questions of human nature, spirituality, consciousness, and the future of humanity.

In this fascinating lecture, Aran Yardeni explores Ben-Gurion's relationship with Buddhism, Hinduism, Eastern philosophy, and the spiritual traditions of India.

Aran's interest in this subject is deeply rooted in his academic research. He wrote his thesis on Ben-Gurion's engagement with Eastern philosophy and spirituality and is a researcher at the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism, where he continues to explore the intellectual and spiritual dimensions of Ben-Gurion's life and thought.

What drew Israel's first Prime Minister to the wisdom of the East? How did Eastern thought influence his ideas about humanity, ethics, and the future? And what was his connection to the vision and philosophy of Sri Aurobindo, one of India's most influential spiritual philosophers?

The lecture will take us on a journey beyond the familiar image of Ben-Gurion as a political leader, revealing a lesser-known dimension of his intellectual and spiritual world. Through historical accounts, personal stories, and philosophical insights, Aran will explore Ben-Gurion's encounters with Eastern thought and his search for new perspectives on the evolution of humanity and consciousness.

This is a lecture about an unexpected meeting between Israel and India, political leadership and spiritual inquiry, Zionism and Eastern philosophy—and about a remarkable figure who was willing to look far beyond the boundaries of his own time and culture in search of answers to some of humanity's most profound questions.