Another Minor Ramp for the LEGO® Altar

In honor of my recent Shavuos presentation I needed to create a working minor ramp to the Sovev because one of the featured korbanos was the animal chatas. This is an update to this post. The reason I had been putting this off is the tricky angles on many of the edges. Unlike the minor ramp to the Yesod (on the western side of the Altar) which slopes down at the same angle as the main ramp and can therefore use the same 2x2 sloped bricks, the minor ramp to the Sovev takes a much shallower angle from its point of departure until it reaches its destination. Here is what I came up with.

Shavuos 2026 at Darchei Tzedek

Why would anyone need a life-size replica of the Outer Altar from the Second Temple? Beside the obvious bragging rights, it makes it much easier to demonstrate how far the Kohanim threw the entrails of the bird olah when it was performed on the southwest corner. And that is just one of the many hands-on demonstrations that were featured in this year's Shavuos night shiur titled: Fascinating Facts from the Daily Avodah.

The Terry Elan Memorial Lecture 2026: Running a Regel

To mark my father's yahrtzeit on 29 Shevat I delivered a new slideshow titled Running a Regel: The Logistics of Hosting Klal Yisrael for Yom Tov. See the full video below!

Immersing Sacrificial Animals

It is pretty well-known that Jewish people free themselves from tumah by immersing their bodies in water. It is less-known that even people who are perfectly tahor immerse themselves before entering the Beis Hamikdash. What about the sacrificial animals? Were they also immersed before entering the Beis Hamikdash to be used as offerings?