Tamid Photo Essay in Lego® #1

The Shot

Greeting the Guards

The Memuneh, along with Yonasan the Levi, greet the guards stationed outside one of the Courtyard gates.

The Biblical Neivel: Three Opinions

On Erev Pesach, as the multitudes offered their pascal lambs in the Azarah of the Beis HaMikdash, a group of Leviim stood upon the duchan to provide musical and choral accompaniment during the avodah. This was more than just an annual performance, for the Leviim would sing and play every single day in the Beis HaMikdash. One of the instruments that featured daily was the neivel (pl. nevalim). This musical device is mentioned often in the verses of Tanach and was certainly well-known in its day, yet its exact description varies wildly among the sources.

Tamid Photo Essay in Lego®: An Introduction

Once upon a time, a long time ago...

Bedtime stories in the Elan house would often feature vignettes of the Beis Hamikdash, and Shabbos afternoons in the Elan house would often feature Lego® building sessions. While both of those activities have been few and far in between as of late (it is hard to tell your kids bedtime stories when they go to sleep after you do), I have always thought about how those two hobbies could be combined. My solution was to build small dioramas of the Beis Hamikdash out of Lego® that showcase some classic scenes from the familiar tales.

The Terry Elan Memorial Lecture 2025: Music of the Mikdash

To mark my father's yahrtzeit on 29 Shevat I delivered a new slideshow titled Music of the Mikdash: Reconstructing the musical instruments of the Leviim and recapturing the lost Song of Zion. See the full video below!

Preview of the Terry Elan Memorial Lecture 2025

On Sunday, March 2, 2025, I will be delivering a lecture in memory of my father IYH. The title is Music of the Mikdash: Reconstructing the musical instruments of the Leviim and recapturing the lost Song of Zion.

Mishnah Yomi: The Original Iron Man

Mishnah Yomi will be learning Sotah 9:10 today. There we read about Yochanan Kohen Gadol and one of the changes he instituted in the Beis Hamikdash. He was unhappy with the original method used of quieting animals prior to their slaughter and so he devised a new system.

Rashi to Bava Metzia 33a About the Route to Open the Heychal Gateway

On Bava Metzia 33a Rashi gives a description of the route taken by the Kohen as he opens the doors of the main Heychal gateway. I get the impression that these lines of Rashi have troubled many a student of the Gemara, judging by the number of people who have come over to me and asked me to explain what Rashi means here. In honor of Daf Yomi reaching this sugya I will present my elucidated version of Rashi's words as I understand them.

Yoma 71b – 73b: Storing the Mishkan

The Gemara states that the kerashim (wall beams) of the Mishkan will remain “standing forever.” This fits nicely with the account in Sotah 9a where we learn that the Mishkan components were hidden away when the First Beis Hamikdash was built. According to one approach, these components were stored in the upper level of the Heychal.

Yoma 69a – 71a: The Kodesh Hakodashim

As the sun prepares to set on the day of Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol enters the Kodesh Hakodashim one final time to retrieve the empty Ketores ladle and shovel of coals. The room must have been quite dark since the Kohen Gadol carried no lamp with him, and the glowing coals in the shovel had long since expired, and the flames of the nearby Menorah were blocked from view by the curtains of the amah traksin.

Yoma 66b – 68b: Women of the Wool

R’ Eliezer mentions that women are especially gifted when it comes to working with wool. In the Mishkan they expressed this talent by spinning and weaving the various panels that made up the structure, and in the Beis Hamikdash they wove the curtains for the gates and the Heychal Building.

Yoma 64a – 66a: The Half-Shekel Donation

Located within the Azarah were thirteen collection boxes, called shofaros on account of their long, curved necks which resembled a shofar. They were used to collect funds for the following purposes:

The Terry Elan Memorial Lecture 2024: Beis Hamikdash Underground

To mark my father's yahrtzeit on 29 Shevat I delivered a new slideshow titled Beis Hamikdash Underground: The secret — and not-so-secret — architecture beneath the Second Beis Hamikdash.

Yoma 61b – 63b: The Second Ring

The Gemara states that the two daily Tamid-offerings must be slaughtered “facing the sun,” that is, in a place on the Azarah floor that will be lit by the rays of the sun and not remain in shadow.

Yoma 59a – 61a: Purification of the Metzora

When a metzora came to the Beis Hamikdash at the end of his period of tumah, one step in his purification procedure was to immerse in the mikveh located in the Chamber of the Metzoraim. 

Preview of the Terry Elan Memorial Lecture 2024

On Sunday, February 11, 2024, I will be delivering a lecture in memory of my father IYH. The title is Beis Hamikdash Underground: The secret — and not-so-secret — architecture beneath the second Beis Hamikdash