Reconstructing Jewish history with Legos

Legos, those plastic snap together children’s building blocks, were used to reconstruct the Old City of Jerusalem by the children of the religious and nursery schools and their families at the Hewlett-East Rockaway Jewish Centre on April 1.

Nearly 50,000 Legos were used to build a 16-foot by 16-foot model that included the ancient walls of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount with the Beit haMigdsash, the Tower of David and Montefiore’s Windmill.

Architect Steve Schwartz of Building Blocks Workshops directed the program. It consisted of a 10-minute lecture, nearly 90 minutes of Lego building and a 20-minute talk with the children. The city is taken apart and he brings the Legos to another group of children.