Tamid Photo Essay in Lego® #25

The Shot

Holy Smokes

The Kohanim prepare to offer the ketores.

The Story

Two Kohanim would enter the Heychal Building when it was time to offer the ketores [spices]. The assistant carried a large, covered bowl that had a piece of material on top either to act as a handle or for decoration, and inside the bowl was a spoon that contained the ketores itself. The assistant placed the bowl onto the floor and removed the spoon while the man who would offer the ketores cupped his hands together. The assistant poured the ketores into his open hands, placed the spoon down on the floor, and exited the building. Standing alone inside the Heychal, the man holding the ketores extended his arms over the hot coals that had recently been placed atop the Golden Mizbeyach and slowly spread his hands apart and allowed the ketores to fall down onto the coals.

The Setup

This shot is modeled and rendered in Bricklink Studio with depth of field added in Photoshop (read more about this process in my introduction). The interior lighting is accomplished through a healthy dose of 16x16 baseplates in Luminous Soft Amber floating overhead which really pick up the shine on the Metallic Gold tiles and wall bricks and Menorahs.

The Golden Mizbeyach is a simple 2x2x2 Container (61780) topped with a 2x2 plate and four pips in Trans-Fire Yellow for the coals. The ketores bowl and cover are 2x2 Radar Dishes and the spoon is a 1L Bar with Light Holder. For the ketores itself I opted for the (and we will use the official part name here) 1x1 Round Plate with Horizontal Swirl.

If the Kohen who is about to perform the service looks a little nervous (courtesy of the Lopsided Smile face), there is a reason for that — he has never done this job before in his life! No one was allowed to perform the ketores service twice (except for the Kohen Gadol) so this is his big debut and he is getting some tips right now from his older colleague to ensure that things go as smoothly as possible.

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