(Courtesy of Chabad of West Orange)��

On Tuesday evening, July 17, 70 participants gathered at Chabad of West Orange for a live demonstration of the second Temple built entirely out of authentic LEGO® by Master Builder and Beit Hamikdash expert, Yitzy Kasowitz of jbrick.com, who was in town all week presenting across the New York and New Jersey.

After a thorough overview of the layout of the Holy Temple, the courtyard and surrounding areas, those in attendance were treated to a magical view of the inner and lower chambers of the temple.

Stephen W. Schwartz of AIA, Architect and Building Blocks Workshops, who was at the presentation, wrote the following in an email on July 20:

“First let me explain my perspective for these comments regarding Yitzy Kasowitz and his LEGO Model of the Beit Hamikdash. I have been an architect for 48 years and an educator using LEGO for teaching Jewish History for the last 20 years.

I don’t think most people can appreciate the scale and detail that he has accomplished. I compare it to writing the alphabet 10 times on the head of a pin. Mind you this model would be difficult enough if he himself created all the parts, but I know how insane this is to find actual LEGO pieces buried in the thousands of kits that LEGO has built over the years.

Seeing Yitzy Kasowitz’s model of the Beit Hamikdash and listening to the research he masterminded was a truly great experience for me. Based on my own experience of building custom models with LEGO please take my word for the fact that Yitzy has taken model building to a whole new level.

Congratulations to Rabbi Kasowitz for having such a talented brother.”

Yitzy is available for live presentations and can be reached at 651-308-1181 or [email protected].

For more information about Chabad of West Orange, visit www.chabadwestorange.com.

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