MAKING A DWELLING FOR HASHEM IN MINIATURE

For some people, yearning for the third Beis HaMikdash did not remain in the realm of emotional longing but drove them to undertake personal projects to create models of the Beis HaMikdash. Dozens of these models have been made over the years and have inspired countless Jews. * During the Three Weeks, as we learn the Hilchos Beis HaBechira, as Chazal say, “Whoever delves into the laws of the Bayis is considered as though he built it,” we take a look at the stories behind many of the models that were made of the Beis HaMikdash * Part 2 of 2

R’ Efargan next to the model he built FROM SURVIVING DESTRUCTION TO BUILDING THE MIKDASH

One of the beautiful models that was constructed recently and which is used as a traveling exhibit is the model built by R’ Sholom Efargan, resident of Beitar Ilit. The model is made out of marble and weighs over half a ton. Despite being a communal worker, as per the Rebbe’s instruction, he has worked on a number of models of the Beis HaMikdash in recent years.

R’ Sholom is a former talmid of Yeshivas Oholei Yosef Yitzchok in Agadir, Morocco. He was one of the survivors of the massive earthquake that struck the city and killed some of the talmidim of the yeshiva. After making aliya, he learned in the vocational school in Kfar Chabad. “I had yechidus with the Rebbe twice,” he says, and told Beis Moshiach about it:

“38 years ago, I was at a crossroads in my life. I was offered a job of art teacher in the US but couldn’t make up my mind. I asked the Rebbe who said: You are a good ambassador in your city. Your role is in Eretz Yisroel.

“I began working in hafatza and opened a place of Torah. Many families did t’shuva because of our work. In another yechidus, I told the Rebbe that I had many opponents. The Rebbe told me to stand strong and not to be afraid of antagonists.”

When did you build the model of the Beis HaMikdash?

“16 years ago. It has been in dozens of places throughout the country and abroad and has been seen by over a quarter of a million people. When it was exhibited in Boro Park, 5000 people came to see it.”

Why did you make a model of the Beis HaMikdash?

“As I said before, I am a survivor of the earthquake in Agadir. I often see myself standing in that ruined city and thinking that since I was saved, I have to take part in the building of the Beis HaMikdash and instilling awareness about the Mikdash among Jews. As you know, throughout the years, the Rebbe instilled in us a longing for the Beis HaMikdash and the Geula, and this was definitely part of my decision to invest considerable effort into building a beautiful model.”

R’ Efargan’s model was exhibited all over Eretz Yisroel over a period of years and was seen by hundreds of thousands of people, mainly schoolchildren.

R’ Efargan has plans: “I’d like to make an electronic model of the Mikdash which will make it easy to learn about it. The lishkos will open and you’ll be able to learn about everything in a realistic way. The model will rotate, things will move, and it will give the viewer the feeling that he is seeing something ‘live.’ A model like this will cost a lot of money. We hope that even before that, the third Beis HaMikdash will be standing in all its glory.”

A HOBBY PROJECT BECOMES A TEACHING TOOL

A number of years ago, a young Lubavitcher man made a model of the Beis HaMikdash. R’ M. M. Sofer of Maalot in the western Galil built it one meter by one meter according to the opinion of the Tiferes Yisroel.

“I started doing this as a kid; it was one of my hobbies. I always had a strong interest in the Beis HaMikdash. I still have diagrams from Meseches Middos from when I was in elementary school.

“The model that I made was meant for myself, but since I was teaching in a Chabad school I was asked to display it. More people came to see it and then a friend suggested that the public might also enjoy it and learn from it and thereby fulfill the Rebbe’s horaa about learning about the Mikdash.

“I began giving lectures on the topic accompanied by the model. I gave a series of lectures for Merkaz Moshiach in Florida and the response was gratifying. People are very interested in the subject. When I explain about the Mikdash with the aid of the model, people understand it much better.”

The model was made over a period of four months and is made of Styrofoam and pressed cardboard, with designs drawn on contact paper. The scale is half a centimeter to an ama. 

“When I lecture, I include the Rebbe’s sichos about the personal Mikdash within each Jew. When you include p’nimius ha’Torah, the entire subject is illuminated.”

R’ Sofer published a book for children called Bonei HaMikdash. He published it following the Rebbe’s sicha that cited the statement of the Sages that by being involved in learning about the Beis HaMikdash, it is like you are building it. It is meant for children in grade five and up and includes a hundred color pages. It contains sichos, ideas, games and riddles about the Mikdash.

MODEL MADE TO ORDER

Katriel Sugarman, who was born in Syracuse, New York, is a professional artist and craftsman specializing in wood Judaica. He completed a wooden model of the Azara and the Beis HaMikdash that surpasses all previous attempts in detail and beauty. 

Sugarman has an artist’s workshop in Yerushalayim where he crafts Judaica for collectors. He doesn’t sell to stores. A Judaica collector from the US ordered a model of the Beis HaMikdash and he started working on it. This wasn’t the first time. Many years earlier he was involved in topics related to the Mikdash and did a lot of research. 

And while Sugarman won’t say what it cost to build, he notes that it was expensive, made as it was of gold, silver, bronze and fine wood. It also took four people to construct: Sugarman, two silversmiths and a woodworker. And time. Close to two years, including some 500 hours of research. It is 1.40 by 1.70 centimeters and the scale is 4 millimeters to the ama. 

“I always waited for someone to order a model of the Beis HaMikdash. Some years ago, a collector asked me for one. You cannot imagine,” Sugarman said. “It took 18 months of just building. After a while, you forget that this is an order – a piece of work for someone – and get immersed in it. It became like a high you can’t imagine. We had a lot of problems constructing it and had to use plenty of brainpower to accommodate the various shitos (halachic views).”

Katriel shipped it off to Monsey, where it found its new home. Before parting with it, Katriel prepared a beautiful slideshow of his model and he gives lectures accompanied by these slides. He saw people’s great interest in the Mikdash when, after finishing the model, before it was sent away, thousands of people visited his workshop to look at it. He stood with them every day for hours and explained the details of the model.

He has also published a series of articles about the Beis HaMikdash in various brochures in English and in the Jewish Press.

Dozens of Chabad houses around the world have invited him to lecture for them.

“I went to the Rebbe and received a dollar and a bracha from him.” 

R’ Sugarman sees the topic of the Mikdash as a shlichus and a preparation for Yemos HaMoshiach and the Geula:

“Awareness about the Beis HaMikdash has grown in recent years. 35 years ago, it wasn’t talked about. Today, there is a growing interest in it which shows that we are taking giant steps toward the Geula.”

THE MODEL THE REBBE SAW 

One of the famous models is one made by a Lubavitcher, R’ Dov Levanoni of Yerushalayim, according to the Rambam’s shita (most of the models are made according to the Tiferes Yisroel). He brought it to the Rebbe on 26 Adar 5752.

R’ Levanoni’s name is associated with the Beis HaMikdash as it says, “and the Levanon, this is the Beis HaMikdash.”

R’ Levanoni was busy with the Mikdash as a child back in Czechoslovakia. He dreamed a lot about the Mikdash and loved looking at pictures of it in books. Finally, after four years of work that he did in consultation with rabbanim and poskim, he finished his model.

The reason he built it according to the Rambam, even though it is harder to build, is because of the Rebbe’s regard for the Rambam’s shita.

R’ Levanoni is excited when he tells of his meeting with the Rebbe. “I presented my model to the Rebbe and he gazed at it for a few seconds and then asked about the ramp of the altar. I immediately realized there was a problem. Later on I looked into the matter and discovered that the Rebbe noticed a certain problem with the ramp which was altogether only 5.2 millimeters!

“I, who had worked on it for so long had not noticed my engineering mistake, but the Rebbe noticed it within seconds. Of course, it was immediately corrected.

“The Rebbe blessed me three times that I should see the third Beis HaMikdash. When I presented the model the Rebbe blessed me; when my wife passed by for dollars the Rebbe said to her, ‘You should merit the building of the third Beis HaMikdash and ask your husband if it is all correct.’”

R’ Levanoni’s model has been around the world and has raised awareness of the Mikdash. He also lectures accompanied by slides and wrote a book called HaMikdash. He produced two CD’s about the Mikdash, the first with all the sources of the Rambam in Meseches Middos and the second, a less learned one, with slides.

MODEL OF THE THIRD BEIS HA’MIKDASH

In Eretz Yisroel there are some other miniature models of the Beis HaMikdash which are not that well known. In Shaarei Tzedek hospital in Yerushalayim there is a model made by an artist named Cohen. Another model used to be on display at the base of Yeshivat HaKotel in the Old City.

There are other models like the Stiglitz model (he actually built three models based on the Tiferes Yisroel), the Rosenblatt model, and another model that was displayed at the Yeshivas Tchebin and was made by R’ Mordechai Genuth, a former talmid there and the author of Davar B’Itto.