When Solomon built the temple and his palace, he used this phrase (Kings I 7:9) to describe the quality of the work. The "masad" is taken from the word "Yesod" or foundation. "Tephachot comes from the word "tephach"טפח or "tipcha," which was a beam used for holding up a roof. The name was taken from its width which usually measured a "tephach" (about 4 inches). As an aside, there are two towns in the Galilee, one called Masad, and the other one "Tephachot", which are within 15 km of each other. And even weirder? There is a bank called Tephachot and, yes, a bank called Masad.

בקשתי מהקבלן לצבוע את את כל הבית מין המסד ועד הטפחות.

"Bikashti MeHakablan litzboa et kol habayit Min hamasad ve-ad hatephachot." I requested that the contractor paints the entire house from the A to Z. After the job, it looks to me that he left out a few letters.

Back to this week's lesson