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.

This lecture explores the spaces constructed under the floor of the Beis Hamikdash. Public thoroughfares, private bathhouses, and tunnels used by scoundrels and saints interconnected right beneath the feet of the casual visitor. Aggadic and halachic sources are used to shed light upon these unseen features of the Beis Hamikdash.

Topics Include:

• The extensive tumah barrier

• Priestly chambers and passageways

• Innovative plumbing for mikvaos

• Secret storage areas

• And more!

• The closed captions for this video were prepared with the help of Martha Goodman and the Disability and Inclusion Services, Macks Center for Jewish Connections in Baltimore, MD