Tzedakah

I've previously noted JBrick, started by Yitzy Kasowitz to create and sell Jewish-themed LEGO sets. Here we see two different sizes of tzedakah boxes. Tzedakah means charity, but the word comes from the same root as righteousness, justice, or fairness (see here), so giving is not just seen as generosity, but also fulfilling justice (see, for instance, Deuteronomy 10:18, "He [the Lord your God] executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Giving is grouped with prayer and repentence in the liturgy of the High Holy Days. Many Jewish homes have a Tzedakah box to collect coins which will later be given to the needy. These boxes have the word Tzedakah in Hebrew, either in sticker form on the smaller boxes, or built into the LEGO bricks in the larger version.

Waiting on the Women

Let's mark the fourth Sunday of Easter with Mrs. Dagsbricks' Waiting on the Women - Jesus' tomb sits open and empty on Easter morning, with the Angel just bursting to proclaim the good news.

Omer counter

Beginning on the second day of Passover (evening of April 4 this year) Jews begin the Counting of the Omer. This is a countdown of the 49 days until Shavuot (or Pentecost, which celebrates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, evening of May 25 this year). The count is mandated in Leviticus 23, and a blessing is said each day. The period has also become a time of remembrance of 24000 Torah students killed either in a plague or by the Romans in the years 132-136. The 33rd day of the count is known as Lag BaOmer, which might mark the end of the plague, or else commemorate the life of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and the publishing of one of the key works of kabbalah, a day marked with bonfires. Anyway, always looking for a way to mix traditions with play, Joanna Brichetto of Bible Belt Balabusta has come up with a LEGO Omer Counter. Each day you open a door to reveal an object as you count down. The day of Lag BaOmer includes a small flame. Note the Passover Seder at the bottom and the tablets of the Law at the top to mark the start and the end of the count. Remember, Hebrew is read from right to left, so you start at the Seder in the bottom right and count your way to Sinai at the top left.

Buddhist temple

I've been waiting to post this as it was built, and I think it's now finished. Timofey_tkachev has built this really amazing Buddhist temple. I do not know if this is patterned on a specific existing temple or simply built in the style of a Buddhist temple.


He also included some interior details.

Grace flows down

Let's mark the third Sunday of Easter with another Easter-themed MOC, Grace Flows Down by Legomania.

Cross

Easter is over, but that just means that I've found more Easter MOCs posted over the last few days. Legomee posted Crucifixion.

Easter

Christ the Lord is risen today - Hallelujah! Scene by Pink Stormtrooper.

Passover

Passover began at sundown last night. Families around the world gathered for the Seder, the traditional meal filled with ritual. One of the staples of the gathering is the seder plate, here in LEGO by JBrick, which holds six symbolic foods that point back to the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and also the Temple. I described the details previously.

Good Friday

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride. Crucifixion by Pink Stormtrooper.

Maundy Thursday

Today is Maundy Thursday, the day Christians commemorate the Last Supper. On the night that he was arrested, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him." John 13:3-5 Brendan Powell Smith illustrated this scene.