The Temple of Jerusalem, rebuilt in three dimensions to the measurements of the Mishnah. You enter on foot, walk where you like, and every stone tells you where it comes from.
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Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 95:2
צריך שיכוף ראשו מעט שיהיו עיניו למטה לארץ ויחשוב כאלו עומד בבית המקדש ובלבו יכוין למעלה לשמים He should bow his head slightly, his eyes cast down toward the earth, and consider himself as if standing in the Beit HaMikdash; and in his heart direct himself upward, toward heaven.
צריך שיכוף ראשו מעט שיהיו עיניו למטה לארץ ויחשוב כאלו עומד בבית המקדש ובלבו יכוין למעלה לשמים
He should bow his head slightly, his eyes cast down toward the earth, and consider himself as if standing in the Beit HaMikdash; and in his heart direct himself upward, toward heaven.
Around the courts, seventeen chambers, each with its own service. The Sanhedrin sits in one, hides are salted in another, the Kohen Gadol immerses on a rooftop. Every one of them is built in the tour.
The nazirites cook their peace offerings here, and throw the hair they have shaved under the pot.
Middot 2:5
Blemished kohanim sort the wood for the altar here and set aside every wormy log.
The roofless court of the metzora'im.
The store of wine and oil, according to Abba Shaul.
Pinchas the dresser clothes the kohanim here for the service.
Middot 1:4; Shekalim 5:1
The chavitin are made here, the daily offering of the Kohen Gadol.
Middot 1:4
A great vaulted hall where the elders of the watch sleep, the keys of the Azara in their hands.
Middot 1:8
Beneath the Azara, at the end of a lamplit tunnel: a kohen made impure in the night immerses here, then warms himself by the fire.
Tamid 1:1
The upper storey over the gate: kohanim keep watch above, Levites below.
Middot 1:5
The hall of hewn stone, where the Great Sanhedrin of Israel sits.
Middot 5:4
A cistern dug out, a wheel set over it: from here water reaches the whole Azara.
“I have forgotten what it was used for,” says Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov.
The salt for the korbanot is kept here.
Middot 5:3
The hides of the offerings are salted here; on its roof, the bath of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur.
The entrails of the offerings are rinsed here; a winding stair climbs to the roof of the Parva.
The Kohen Gadol stays here for the seven days before Yom Kippur.
Yoma 1:1
The house of Avtinas prepares the incense here, and keeps its secret.
Tamid 1:1; Yoma 3:11
From the Har HaBayit to the Kodesh HaKodashim, Mishnah Kelim counts the degrees of holiness. At each one, fewer may enter.
Holier than Jerusalem: zavim, zavot, menstruants and women after childbirth may not enter.
Mishnah Kelim 1:8
Holier than the Har HaBayit: non-Jews and those made impure by a corpse may not enter.
Holier than the Chel: one who immersed that same day may not enter before sunset.
Holier than the Ezrat Nashim: one who still owes an offering of atonement may not enter.
Holier than the Ezrat Israel: Israelites enter only for what requires them, the semikhah, the shechitah and the tenufah.
Holier than the Ezrat Kohanim: priests with a blemish or unkempt hair may not enter.
Mishnah Kelim 1:9
Holier still: no one enters without having washed hands and feet.
Berakhot 30a
היה עומד בחוץ לארץ יכוין את לבו כנגד ארץ ישראל… היה עומד בבית קדשי הקדשים יכוין את לבו כנגד בית הכפורת…נמצאו כל ישראל מכוונין את לבם למקום אחד One standing outside the Land of Israel directs his heart toward the Land of Israel; in the Land of Israel, toward Jerusalem; in Jerusalem, toward the Beit HaMikdash; in the Beit HaMikdash, toward the Kodesh HaKodashim; in the Kodesh HaKodashim, toward the Beit HaKaporet… Thus all Israel direct their hearts toward one place.
היה עומד בחוץ לארץ יכוין את לבו כנגד ארץ ישראל… היה עומד בבית קדשי הקדשים יכוין את לבו כנגד בית הכפורת…נמצאו כל ישראל מכוונין את לבם למקום אחד
One standing outside the Land of Israel directs his heart toward the Land of Israel; in the Land of Israel, toward Jerusalem; in Jerusalem, toward the Beit HaMikdash; in the Beit HaMikdash, toward the Kodesh HaKodashim; in the Kodesh HaKodashim, toward the Beit HaKaporet… Thus all Israel direct their hearts toward one place.
Holiest of all: no one enters but the Kohen Gadol, on Yom Kippur, at the hour of the service.
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