Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Immersing the Paroches Curtain Revisited

Every Temple vessel was immersed in a mikveh to sanctify it prior to its first use. In a previous post I discussed how the very large Paroches curtains of the Sanctuary Building would be immersed. In certain circumstances these curtains would have to be immersed again, and sometimes this was done within the Courtyard. The challenge is finding a mikveh large enough to contain them.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Water Conservation in the Pre-Muchni Days

In the Second Temple era a Kohen Gadol named Ben Katin devised a machine that was used to lower the Kiyor [laver] into a well of water each night and then raise it again in the morning. This prevented the water inside from becoming disqualified and unfit for Temple use. The Sages praised Ben Katin for this great innovation that saved the Temple wasted water and the effort of refilling the Kiyor every morning. The question is, what did they do before the Muchni was invented?

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Wall Thickness Between the Tauim Part 2


SUMMARY After seeing a first printing of Tiferes Yisrael's commentary to the Mishnah, it was necessary to come up with a new, reduced wall thickness for the tauim.


In the previous post I set out to find an early printing of Tiferes Yisrael's commentary to the Mishnah in order to resolve a question about the wall thickness between the tauim. Unfortunately, first printings of Tiferes Yisrael's commentary are not all that common and sell at auction for a small fortune.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Wall Thickness Between the Tauim

Very few details are provided by the Mishnah for the dimensions of the tauim (small rooms surrounding the Sanctuary Building). In the key to his Temple Diagram, Tiferes Yisrael states what he believes to be the length of the various tauim. Based on his results it is possible to make a reasonable guess as to the thickness of the walls that separated the tauim from each other.