


A Table Fit for a King
When God commanded the Children of Israel to build a Tabernacle for him to dwell among them, he also commanded them to build furnishings. Perhaps the most intricate piece was the golden table, or shulchan, that held the 12 showbreads, and some commentaries place the...
Why Are We Commanded to Keep the Pieces of the Broken Tablets?
As part of building the Tabernacle, God instructed Moses to place the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments into the Ark of the Covenant. But, as we know, there were two sets of tablets; the first, inscribed by the finger of God, was cast down and shattered when Moses...
The Parochet Curtain: Separating Between the Holy and Holy of Holies
In the Tabernacle, and later, in the Temples in Jerusalem, a curtain, called a parochet, separated the “Holy” from the “Holy of Holies.” The only person who passed through this curtain was the Kohen Gadol (high priest) on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In order to...
Where is the Ark of the Covenant?
After leaving Egypt and receiving the Torah at Sinai, the Jews were commanded to build a Tabernacle. At the epicenter of the Tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant into which were placed the stone tablets. What is the Ark of the Covenant? The Ark of the Covenant is a...