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The Sekr1t Project revealed
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011 06:50 pmNow I've completed my Sekr1t Project (and in time for the Wandering Jews I'm hosting on Friday), I can reveal it's:
Professional quality it isn't; just about as good as I'm going to be able to manage myself, however, it is, and that will do me.
The text around the outside is the passage in the Talmud (בְּרָכוֹת 30a) which specifies which direction to face whilst praying:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dhole; it's not in the Talmud.)
For the Jews of Europe (and North America), the direction towards Israel is, roughly, east, hence mizrāch ("east") has become shorthand for "towards Jerusalem"; that is the large word at the top. And the picture is now hanging up on the eastern wall of my living room.
The picture shows the ghostly outline of the Temple, specifically, the glorious reconstruction of the Temple built by Herod, according to the model of first century Jerusalem formerly in the Holyland Hotel, but now in the Israel Museum, above the Western Wall, the retaining wall Herod built to enlargen the Temple Mount hilltop, atop which the wall of the Temple once stood.
It's quite astonishing how many people have put photos online showing the Temple from the east (i.e. towards its entrance, and the closest point one can come to it in the model), and how few have shown what it looks like from the west. In fact, that's an underestimation: there were none at all. Fortunately, after some rummaging around, I managed to find a photo I had taken myself, which did the job. Just as well I'm the kind of person I am, then. :o)
( View piccy )
(Or more-or-less: for some reason, the colours, and particularly the yellows, in the scan came out duller than the real thing, and beyond my ability to fully correct afterwards; and the coloured pencil shading comes out really coarse. Which is a shame, as the Quink ink I used (being the only ink I have) will fade after a few years of exposure to sunlight, and I'd hoped to be able to use printouts of the scan as a replacement. I suppose I can always get some more permanent ink, and reink over the letters when they fade.)Professional quality it isn't; just about as good as I'm going to be able to manage myself, however, it is, and that will do me.
The text around the outside is the passage in the Talmud (בְּרָכוֹת 30a) which specifies which direction to face whilst praying:
Our rabbis taught: If one is outside the Land, one should incline one's heart towards the Land of Israel, as it is said (1 Kings 8:48), "They shall pray to You towards their land". If one is in the Land of Israel, one should incline one's heart towards Jerusalem, as it is said (1 Kings 8:44), "They shall pray to the LORD towards the city You have chosen." If one is in Jerusalem, one should incline one's heart towards the Temple, as it is said (2 Chron. 6:32), "They shall pray to this House." If one is in the Temple, one should incline one's heart towards the Holy of Holies, as it is said (1 Kings 8:35), "They shall pray towards this place." If one is in the Holy of Holies, one should incline one's heart towards the site of the cover of the Ark of the Covenant. And if one is in the Ark of the Covenant, one has got other problems.(Okay, the last sentence was from
dhole; it's not in the Talmud.)For the Jews of Europe (and North America), the direction towards Israel is, roughly, east, hence mizrāch ("east") has become shorthand for "towards Jerusalem"; that is the large word at the top. And the picture is now hanging up on the eastern wall of my living room.
The picture shows the ghostly outline of the Temple, specifically, the glorious reconstruction of the Temple built by Herod, according to the model of first century Jerusalem formerly in the Holyland Hotel, but now in the Israel Museum, above the Western Wall, the retaining wall Herod built to enlargen the Temple Mount hilltop, atop which the wall of the Temple once stood.
It's quite astonishing how many people have put photos online showing the Temple from the east (i.e. towards its entrance, and the closest point one can come to it in the model), and how few have shown what it looks like from the west. In fact, that's an underestimation: there were none at all. Fortunately, after some rummaging around, I managed to find a photo I had taken myself, which did the job. Just as well I'm the kind of person I am, then. :o)
