The Shot
The Memuneh, along with Yonasan the Levi, are admitted through a small door to the side of the Nitzotz Gate.
A collection of information, sources, and ideas about the design and use of the Second Temple
The Memuneh, along with Yonasan the Levi, are admitted through a small door to the side of the Nitzotz Gate.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.