Building the 1st Beit HaMikdash: how were the stones cut and used?

In this, our third session in this series, we will first complete the material from the previous session by reading the very clear and helpful conclusion and summary written by the Radak (on Melachim I) about the division of labor that went into procuring and transporting the raw materials (i.e. lumber and stone) used in building the First Beit Mikdash. We will see how he used the information found in the Talmudic discussion that we studied on Yevamot daf 89a in the last session.

Then we will move on to the new subtopic “How were the stones cut and used?” We will study the Talmudic dispute concerning this, and learn about the apparent prohibition to cut stones in (for?) the Mikdash, and what is the origin of this prohibition. We will see how both sides of the dispute agree on the fact that a miraculous mechanism was used at that time, but disagree on where and how it was applied.