Introduction to Diphtheraot

"A mortal king building a palace does not build it by himself; rather, he relies on a designer. And the designer in turn does not build it by himself; rather, he uses pinkasot (wax tablets) and diphtheraot (parchment books, διφθέρᾱ) to know where to make rooms and where to make openings. So too God would look at the Torah and create the world."
(Bereshit Rabbah 1)

During the years in which I worked on ArchitecTorah, I kept my eyes open for architecture books that discuss topics appearing in the Torah or in rabbinic literature. One of the first essays I wrote for the book, on parshat Bereshit, began with my asking whether scholars and sages had imagined the type of house Adam and Chava inhabited in Eden. I discovered that the topic was much discussed, and was thrilled to find a book with the on-topic title, On Adam’s House in Paradise, by architectural historian Joseph Rykwert. This was, as best I can recall, the first architectural book I read specifically for ArchitecTorah. Many interesting books followed, some that were exactly what I expected and others that were not; but almost all contained interesting information that ended up in my book. 

Although my book is now out in the world, I continue to read and reread architectural books that overlap with Torah ideas. In this blog, my plan is to post a short piece every other week, in which I discuss one such book, give a quick summary, and talk about how it overlaps with the concept of ArchitecTorah. This will be different from other  blogs that review architectural books, such as the excellent archidose site, and I trust that my blog will find its select audience. Hopefully this will both keep me reading and thinking about the subject meaningfully, and eventually serve as a good research aide and bibliography for anyone out there with similar interests.

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