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1answer
48 views

Tzuras Hapesach Arched

Can one make a tzuras hapesach arched or does it have to be straight? I know there are many poskim who discuss the lechi, korah ,lechayayim being straight, but an archway should be valid; does anyone ...
3
votes
1answer
51 views

What is a “sealed house”?

The Gemara (Bab. Shab. 146b) discusses certain rules that pertain to a house that is entirely sealed. What kind of house is entirely sealed? If it means what it seems to mean, that it has no entrance ...
4
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0answers
51 views

What's a floor?

There are certain laws pertaining to a floor. For example, if a Sefer Torah is dropped on the floor, one is supposed to do some sort of atonement (eg., most famously, fasting for 40 days). What is ...
6
votes
1answer
131 views

What shape were the branches on the Menorah in the Beit Hamikdash?

What shape were the branches on the Menorah in the Beit Hamikdash? I have seen the diagram by the Rambam where he depicts it with angular branches. I am looking for sources in halacha (i.e. sources ...
5
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1answer
129 views

Exact model of the Beis Hamikdash?

There is a "classic" model of the Beis Hamikdash (I think it's from the HolyLand model). Are there any sources for the decisions taken in the model (for example, what components were done based on ...
3
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1answer
101 views

Are you allowed to make, buy and sell trumpets?

The torah forbids creating artifacts used in the beis hamikdash (based on the verse lo taasun iti (Exodus 20:19), see Talmud Avoda Zara 43a, Rambam Beit Habechira 7:10 and Shulchan Aruch YD 141:8). ...
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0answers
69 views

Putting up scach before walls of sukkah

If one puts up the scach of the sukkah before building the walls then the sukkah is pasul (See Rama OC Siman 635 Sif 1.) If however a tefach of a wall is put up next to the scach (somach to the scach) ...
7
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4answers
170 views

Why build migdal bavel in a valley?

If the point of migdal bavel was to reach the heavens, why not build it on a mountain instead of a valley? וַיְהִי כָל הָאָרֶץ שָׂפָה אֶחָת וּדְבָרִים אֲחָדִים:(ב) וַיְהִי בְּנָסְעָם מִקֶּדֶם ...
2
votes
1answer
67 views

Is there a way to expand a canvas Sukkah?

I'm playing around with ideas for my Sukkah, and I began to wonder, what if I expanded it? The problem is that it's made of canvas, which is wrapped around a metal frame. This does not seem like it ...
1
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1answer
136 views

Large gap in Sukkah wall(s)

I happened to see this design (or see below) for a pergola, and I thought, "What an easy way to have a Sukkah frame up all year round!" But then, when I noticed that it only has a depth of four feet, ...
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2answers
83 views

Why does Yona build a non-kosher succah?

In Yona 4:8 why does Yona build a succa that allows more sun than shade?
5
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1answer
184 views

Did Noah's ark have a deck?

Noach's boat is called a teva, which as far as I know means "box". (The same word is used in later Hebrew for coffins and closets (as in "hayored lifne hateva").) It's described, at least according ...
8
votes
1answer
127 views

Temple mount: wall around court of the gentiles?

In looking of these two models of the temple mount, Alec Garrad model and Israel Museum model, they differ on one major point. In the Garrad model there is another wall on the temple mount that I ...
4
votes
1answer
67 views

Why do we have a Ner Tomid in Shul and on what are modern designs based?

It is customary for synagogues to have a Ner Tomid, a light burning always near the front of the synagogue. 1) Why do we have a Ner Tomid? 2) If it is a reminder of the “ner maarovi” which was one ...
3
votes
1answer
162 views

What kind of Mechitza is required when the women daven on the second floor?

Many times I have seen Shuls where women pray on a balcony on the second floor. What kind of Mechitza do they need? Is it enough if one can't see them (for example, if the angle is such that they ...
8
votes
1answer
94 views

How does a door hit against a lintel (משקוף)?

Rashi in several places (Gen. 41:6; Ex. 12:7, 21:25; Lev. 26:36) writes that משקוף ("lintel") is related to the Aramaic root שקף ("beat"), "because the door beats against it." How so? Doesn't the ...
4
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0answers
76 views

Prayer in a chapel (bes midrash room) vs. in the main synagogue

Some synagogues have a room for prayers that's used on a regular basis: weekdays, Shabasos, holidays. If there are two simultaneous minyanim, then one will be elsewhere, of course, but otherwise the ...
8
votes
3answers
105 views

Why are Mikvas built low to the ground?

I have noticed that almost all Mikvas are built into the ground (either as a basement or on the first floor). Why is that? I have heard that it could be an ease-of-use issue (one doesn't have to climb ...
6
votes
2answers
130 views

Keilim Mikva design

I live in a neighborhood where it is difficult to find a Keilim mikva. Are there any designs available for how to build one? Is it as hard to build as a human mikva?
7
votes
1answer
179 views

What are the standards for bathroom design?

Starting from scratch in building a multiple occupancy bathroom, what standards should be maintained in its design and construction? There are plenty of relevant halachos regarding modesty and proper ...
8
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3answers
144 views

Mezuza on an elevator?

Today I walked into a building and discovered that someone had taped a mezuza onto the "doorpost" of the elevator. The elevator is about 1m x 1m square - way too small for a room to justify having a ...
7
votes
3answers
200 views

How is an eruv string usually attached to a lechi (pole/upright)?

I know that when building an eruv, the string has to go over the top of the lechi (pole/upright). This document had some great illustrations. I'm just curious, which method is most durable? Which ...
1
vote
2answers
168 views

Milchig / Fleishig Arrangement

When designating which sink in a kitchen is Milchig and which is Fleishig, is there any preferred method for which should side should be which. (Eg left meat and right milk, or vice versa)? What about ...
6
votes
2answers
521 views

How do you build an eruv from your house to your sukkah?

I know people do this (if there's no eruv in town, or if you're afraid the eruv will be down at the end of a 3-day yomtov); I think it involves a string from the sukkah to the house? Please explain. ...
2
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2answers
187 views

Remembering the Churban on your home? [closed]

How do we remember the Churban on our homes?
5
votes
3answers
208 views

What can I use for schach?

What materials can be used for the top of a Sukkah?