Questions tagged [architecture-design]

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2 votes
1 answer
575 views

Do walk-in closets need a mezuzah

According to the Halacha, do walk-in closets need a mezuzah? Or no, since they are not regularly lived in are they exempt from having a mezuzah?
3 votes
1 answer
233 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). ...
2 votes
1 answer
56 views

Minimum size for door to be obligated in mezuzah

According to Halacha, what is the minimum width and/or height for a door to obligated in a mezuzah? Is it any door, or does it have to be a specific size? And if it has to be a minimum size, what is ...
2 votes
1 answer
127 views

Are any laws of the synagogue D’oraita?

There are certain Halacha parameters for a synagogue (its sanctity, to an extent its design and architecture etc.). I am confused as to whether all of these are Derabbanan, or if any are D’oraita, and ...
6 votes
4 answers
230 views

Doors and Doorways in Parshat Vayeira

In this week's parsha of Vayeira, I counted 6 references to the words דלת and פתח, all in the story of Lot and Sodom. I don't believe this is a coincidence, since it's all about standing in the door, ...
5 votes
5 answers
481 views

Explanations from חז״ל for Noah's ark?

Today, a very learned friend of mine and I were discussing the difficulty of the literal interpretation of Noah's ark. That is, we could not fathom how multiple samples of every animal on earth could ...
2 votes
0 answers
62 views

Mirror in Shul?

Is a mirror allowed in shul if it is hanging on a wall that no one faces when they daven? It feels wrong to me, but I cannot find a source stating that it is explicitly forbidden since no one is ...
6 votes
2 answers
248 views

Why was Herod allowed to renovate the Temple?

Follow-up to this question. Why was Herod even allowed (/why was it suggested to him) to renovate the Temple, considering that he had so much blood on his hands? It was for this reason that David wasn'...
8 votes
4 answers
2k views

Sukkah floor ideas?

I saw this question posted to a community email group, and it was interesting enough that I thought I would (adapt and) post it here. Does anyone have any clever ideas for what to use for a Sukkah ...
1 vote
0 answers
63 views

Is cutting corners in the Temple allowed?

Last week I went on an archeology studies field trip from my university. We toured parts of the City of David and around and under the Kotel. It turns out that the bottom-most blocks that form the ...
12 votes
3 answers
494 views

What are the halachic considerations that might come up when designing and building a house

I'm curious what are the Halachic considerations that need to be taken into account when building a house. A few possibilities that come to mind may include: position of the bathroom (Rambam, ...
1 vote
0 answers
69 views

Side Ramps on the Mizbeach [closed]

Someone asked me to build him a model of the mizbeach for his class. I understand the dimensions of the mizbach from the Mesaches Middos in the beginning of the third perek. It does not discuss the ...
6 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why was Batsheva bathing on the roof

In 2 Shmuel 11:2 it says that Dovid saw "וַיְהִי לְעֵת הָעֶרֶב וַיָּקָם דָּוִד מֵעַל מִשְׁכָּבוֹ וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ עַל־גַּג בֵּית־הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיַּרְא אִשָּׁה רֹחֶצֶת מֵעַל הַגָּג וְהָאִשָּׁה טוֹבַת ...
4 votes
0 answers
58 views

The prohibition of "Bekhukoteyem" (in their likeness) and the Jewish architecture

"Rabbi Yehuda says: One who did not see the great synagogue [deyofloston] of Alexandria of Egypt never saw the glory of Israel: They said that its structure was like a large basilica, with a ...
7 votes
1 answer
408 views

What is the platform on the side of Me'arat Hamachpela?

When I recently visited Me'arat Hamachpela ("Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hevron, I noticed that there was a ramp leading to a platform facing the outside wall of the building. A few people were praying ...
3 votes
3 answers
466 views

Fitting the Sanhedrin (150) into Lishkat Hagazit (10x15 feet chamber)?

Here's the Tifferes Isroel's plan of the Temple drown to scale (on the bottom), which aligns with the plan of the Second Temple on the WIKI, According to those plans, the size of the whole Lishkat ...
6 votes
1 answer
194 views

Tetragrammaton on Aron Kodesh

I recently began my freshman year at a major US university. While in the university's Hillel for a meeting (I.e. not for davening), I saw the Aron Kodesh had engraved on it , fully spelled out, the ...
14 votes
1 answer
697 views

Was the Shamir worm used for the second Beis Hamikdash?

Shlomo Hamelech used a 'Shamir' worm to quarry and cut the stones for the first Beis Hamikdash. Did they still have this worm for the second Beis Hamikdash? If not, how were the stones cut (as no ...
11 votes
7 answers
565 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 ...
7 votes
1 answer
218 views

What was the shape of Noach's Teivah? Box or Houseboat?

I always recall learning that Noach's Teivah was a box-like shape. The secular world have always depicted it as a houseboat. The secular site of the Teivah's resting place which is the most ...
1 vote
0 answers
77 views

Online Depictions of the Colorful Second Temple

Are there any artistic depictions, available online, of the multicolored appearance of the Second Temple, based on archaeological finds (see, e.g., here), or, e.g., the depiction of the blue/green and ...
1 vote
2 answers
242 views

Questions related to shul structure

I am seeking sources related to the origin of the physical structure of a shul. Specifically: Placement of the ark in the front of the shul. Torah reader's bimah - I've seen 3 arrangements: Most ...
2 votes
0 answers
48 views

slanted sukka roof frame [duplicate]

Would a sukkah frame design with a slant on the roof, e.g. following the diagram on this page, be kosher?
10 votes
2 answers
851 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 ...
2 votes
0 answers
47 views

How do we know/why do we assume the mishkan's components were rectangular?

The sizes of the objects in the mishkan are mostly described in terms of 3 lengths. E.g. שמות כה:י: וְעָשׂ֥וּ אֲר֖וֹן עֲצֵ֣י שִׁטִּ֑ים אַמָּתַ֨יִם וָחֵ֜צִי אָרְכּ֗וֹ וְאַמָּ֤ה וָחֵ֙צִי֙ רָחְבּ֔וֹ ...
5 votes
1 answer
171 views

Can one declare an area to be "not a shul" if it is in the same room as a shul?

Recently, my congregation moved into a temporary space while a new building is under construction. This space is essentially a single large room into which all the various elements of the old building ...
6 votes
3 answers
639 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 votes
0 answers
208 views

Carrying under second story deck

I recently spent Shabbos in an area where there was no community eiruv. The house I stayed in had a deck that one could walk out onto from the second story of the house. The deck was enclosed by walls ...
9 votes
2 answers
838 views

Mezuzah on a Two-Room Bathroom

This question is a bit complicated: Let's say I have a two-room bathroom. The first room is a room with sinks and mirrors and the second room has the actual toilets. The first room and second room are ...
1 vote
0 answers
41 views

Two Towers in Schul Façade

I have noticed in many examples of traditional Ashkenazi schul architecture that there are two towers flanking the entrance. Examples may be seen in such disparate locations as Gąbin, Poland (Gombin),...
3 votes
1 answer
3k views

Closing up a window

Someone mentioned to me that there are some Jews who have a Jewish tradition to be careful to never close up/cover a window due to some sort of danger. Can someone give me some of the parameters for ...
2 votes
2 answers
105 views

Is there nowadays any advantage in having an Ark which is movable?

The Mishnah in Taanis 2 (1) refers to the practice of taking the Ark out of the synagogue into the the town square on the more serious fasts for rain and putting ashes on the ark: סדר תענייות כיצד::...
19 votes
1 answer
406 views

Why was the side door to the hechal unlocked so oddly?

The hechal (central room) of the bes hamikdash had its main entrance on its eastern end. To either side of that entrance were cubicles, and the main-floor cubicles on each side had a door to the east ...
3 votes
1 answer
525 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) ...
4 votes
2 answers
79 views

Shemot describes the construction of the tabernacle. I have a question about the engineering

In the description of the construction of the tabernacle in Shemot (Exodus) 26 The JPS translation of Exodus 26:28, it says "and the middle bar in the midst of the boards, which shall pass through ...
4 votes
3 answers
541 views

How did the Kerashim / Beams of the Mishkan remain upright?

The beams that constituted the walls of the Mishkan seem to be free standing. They did have rings at the top to hold them to each other and there was the 2 outer bars and one inner bar that also acted ...
10 votes
2 answers
517 views

Jewish Minecraft instructions?

My 8 year old son wants to build a mizbeyach or a simple beit hamikdash structure on Minecraft. I know nothing about Minecraft and he is not great at it, though he uses it a lot. Does anyone know how ...
10 votes
3 answers
417 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 ...
12 votes
1 answer
284 views

Where would a mezuzah go on a completely round doorway?

I’ve recently come across the site of a construction company making houses modeled after hobbit holes. I don’t know how this company is going to shape the doorways, but the image below is how they’re ...
3 votes
2 answers
527 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 ...
15 votes
4 answers
615 views

Why was שמאי holding a ruler?

The Bavli, Shabas 31 amud 1, has two stories in which a gentile came to Shamay asking to be converted to Judaism, upon which Shamay "pushed him with the construction cubit in his hand". Rashi explains ...
4 votes
0 answers
144 views

Where exactly should the amud be placed?

In some synagogues I have seen the amud (lectern) from where the chazan (prayer leader) stands to say the prayers, placed a few feet in front of the aron (cabinet) where the torah is kept or between ...
3 votes
1 answer
140 views

Opposite vs. closer regarding the amah-by-amah

The gemara in Bava Batra 60b records a takkana d'rabanan (Rabbinic enactment) to leave a square cubit unfinished in one's house in commemoration of the destruction of the Temple (codified in the ...
1 vote
1 answer
225 views

Genesis 39:20 Potiphar's prison

Was the prison into which Joseph was placed (Genesis 39:20) located in Potiphar's basement?
2 votes
2 answers
382 views

May a 3 sided pyramid (almost) be used as a succah?

Talmud succah states that a succah must have a minimum of 3 sides. Can a person build a 3-sided pyramid, but rather than a "full" pyramid, where all the sides meet at the same point at the top, let's ...
3 votes
1 answer
242 views

Does a succah require a definitive roof?

Let's say your entire succah is made from very large bamboo poles, which are eligible to be used for schach. You decide to make a true 3-sided pyramid, where you lay the poles at an angle making a 3-...
6 votes
1 answer
291 views

Mezuzah on window

Many homes have a porch over the first level which is only accessible by going out and back in through a window on the second level. Would this window/doorway require a mezuzah? Is there something ...
1 vote
1 answer
489 views

What is the ideal design of a synagogue?

What guidance is given for ideal qualities of a synagogue? (eg what shape) Since most buildings require a degree of compromise, are we told which architectural features should be actively avoided? ...
5 votes
0 answers
35 views

Apartment buildings higher than the shul

Shabbat 11a states that a city in which houses (but not towers or castles/fortresses [unsure about the translation]) are built higher than the synagogue will eventually be destroyed. ואמר רבא בר ...
0 votes
2 answers
1k views

Remembering the Churban on your home? [closed]

How do we remember the Churban on our homes?