Questions tagged [architecture-design]
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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 ...
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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'...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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?
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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 ...
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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 ...
user14389
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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),...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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::...
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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-...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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?
...
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Where does the zecher lechurban go in an apartment building?
(A zecher lechurban here refers to the part of a house that is intentionally left unfinished to commemorate the Temple's destruction.)
In an apartment building, does there have to be a zecher ...
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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 ...
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Genesis 39:20 Potiphar's prison
Was the prison into which Joseph was placed (Genesis 39:20) located in Potiphar's basement?
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Can you carry an object from the step outside your house inside your house?
According to the laws of carrying on shabbos one may not carry from one domain to another aside from a makom petur ("exempt area"). A makom petur is less that 4X4 handbreadths and more than three ...
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"Pulpit" on the Bimah
In most Orthodox Ashkenazi schuls, it is customary to have a lectern (the amud) at the front of the room, below the duchan, from whence the baal tefillah leads. Typically, I have noticed that it is ...
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Why didn't the Israelites build Yechezkel's temple when they returned from exile?
G-d gave Yechezkel the blueprints for what is now known as the third temple. Later the Israelites returned from exile and built the second temple... according to the blueprints of the first one? Why?
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Kohen-accessible Cenotaph
Scenario: An architect is building an extension onto a cemetery. As it will engulf the section traditionally reserved for Kohanim, he wishes to build an "overpass" with cenotaphs holding the ...
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Hagbah in a partitioned room
Over Yom Tov I was in a shul which was converted from a house into a shul. The sanctuary was divided by a walled staircase, such that one could not see from one part into the other, like so:
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Prayer in the "House of the One"
I recently read this article on the new "House of the One". The building will feature three separated spaces for prayer: a mosque, a church, and a synagogue. There will be a central courtyard, but ...
user5540
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Washing station where one eats
We have a small synagogue: the room where we pray gets converted into the dining area. The back wall of the room has a washing station already. There is some money to update the synagogue, and some ...
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Building on top of an aron kodesh
Are there any halachic parameters regarding a building which has an aron kodesh in it and what may or may not be built on top, meaning on the floors above? For example it would seem to me that it ...
user5092
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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 ...
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Why was the Israelite section in the Beis Hamikdash so small?
The size of the Ezras Israel (where male Israelites are allowed) is 11 Ammos (cubits) long while the Ezras Nashim is so big (135x135 cubits).
Yet, it was the men who had to be Oleh Regel (when the "...
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Who needs a fence around their roof?
I recently called an exterminator to remove a hornets' nest in a tree overhanging my roof. Since my roof is slanted, with no direct access to it, and it starts at about 9 feet off the ground and peaks ...
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How is a ten tefachim wall hard to use?
The Gemara in Eiruvin 77a says that when a ten tefachim wall is between two courtyards, but is less than that to one courtyard (the floor of the courtyard is heigher), we give it to the one which is ...
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Mikvah with three additional chambers
I was looking at documentation of a mikvah being constructed, and it confused me. In addition to the immersion pool, this mikvah had three additional chambers. From what I have gathered, they appear ...
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Doors and Doorways in Parshat Vayeira
In this weeks 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 its all about standing in the door, ...
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Filling a Mikvah from the Faucet
I read a book by Rabbi David Miller (1869 – 1939) ( he had semicha from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan of Kovno ) , The Secret of the Jew, which says you can fill an empty mikveh straight from a faucet (see ...
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