(JTA) — Dozens of haredi Orthodox volunteers came up empty in their hours-long search through a Jerusalem garbage truck’s contents looking for an engagement ring accidentally thrown out by a young woman.
The search was conducted Thursday at several locales, including on a public square in the predominantly haredi Orthodox neighborhood of Geula, west of Mea Shearim, the news site news.walla.co.il reported. The ring, which has a diamond and is worth several thousand dollars, was tossed into the kitchen garbage can of the bride-to-be’s home and from there emptied out to a municipal dumpster, whose contents were put into the garbage truck.
Contacted by the family, the Jerusalem municipality instructed the driver to unload the truck’s contents near the city’s designated waste disposal site. By that time, the family had recruited the volunteers who sifted through more than two tons of garbage for hours, but were unable to locate the ring. Smaller searches were conducted around the container to rule out the possibility that the ring was in a number of garbage bags that did not make it into the truck that morning.
Meanwhile, the truck’s waste compartment and its mechanism were taken apart at a municipal auto service point and inspected, but the ring was not found in the truck, either.
On Friday, the family called off the search after the volunteers returned the checked garbage to the municipal garbage container that had been emptied into the truck earlier Thursday.
The bride-to-be is to marry next month. The family offered a $300 reward for anyone who returns the ring.
