intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash.

The Heichal and Kodesh HaKodashim (3)
One of the major differences between Bayit Rishon and Bayit Sheini was the nature of the separation between the Heichal (Sanctuary), and Kodesh HaKodashim (Holy of Holies). Melachim Alef 6:31,32 reads, "And for the entrance of the D’vir (a Tanach term for Kodesh HaKodashim) he (Shlomo HaMelech) made doors of Atzei Shemen wood, the doorpost within the frame having five angles. (The frame of the entrance to Kodesh HaKo- dashim in Bayit Rishon was pentagonal.) And as for the two doors of Atzei Shemen, he carved upon them carvings of Cheruvim and palm trees and open flowers and overlaid them with gold; and he spread gold upon the Cheruvim and upon the palm trees." In Bayit Sheini, two enormous parallel curtains separated the Heichal from Kodesh HaKodashim, each forty Amot high and twenty Amot wide. The outer Parochet was configured so that it bent slightly inward at the top so that it "looked like a covering." The southern end of the eastern curtain which faced the Heichal was looped backward on itself and held in place by gold clasps so that there was an opening at the southern end of this curtain. Similarly, the lower part of the northern end of the western curtain which faced Kodesh HaKodashim was slightly open. During the Yom Kippur Avoda, the Kohein Gadol entered Kodesh HaKodashim four times. He would pass through the opening on the southern end of the eastern curtain and walk through the entire width of the Heichal between the two curtains. When he reached the gap between the edge of the western curtain and the northern wall, he turned left and entered Kodesh HaKodashim. This arrangement also effectively prevented people from "feasting their eyes on Kodesh HaKodashim". Basing himself on the concluding Mishna of Chagiga, the Tanna R. Chanina ben Antigonus, came to a different conclusion. "There were two Parachot, one 'spread out' and hanging in place and the other Parochet folded and kept in reserve. If the 'spread out' Parochet became ritually impure, they would take it down and ‘spread out’ (i.e. hang) the (ritually pure) folded curtain in its place." (Tosefta Shekalim 3:15).

"R. Simeon ben Gamliel said in the name of R. Simeon the son of the Prefect, 'The Parochet was one Tefach (between 8 and 9.67 cm.) thick and was woven on a loom of 72 rods (or "woven of 72 strands"), and over each rod was twenty four threads… It was made by 82 young girls and they used to make two every year…" (Shekalim 8:5). Because of variant readings in the Mishnaic text, the commentaries disagreed as to the exact meaning, and the intepretation cited above (i.e. the 82 young girls) was not universally accepted. One version of the text seems to mean, "..at a cost of 82 myriad. Another interpretation is that the "82 myriad" refers to the number of strands in the Parochet. Even though great care was taken that these Parachot be woven in purity, nevertheless, they required immersion upon completion.

"Rabbi Yitzchak ben Nachmani said in the name of Shmuel, 'In three cases did the Sages speak in exaggerated terms … one case was the Parochet… 300 Kohanim were needed to immerse it'" (Chullin 90b). The exasperated Rambam (Shekalim 8: 5) could only exclaim, "Everything said about this curtain is an exaggeration!" The new curtains were then displayed on Har HaBayit so that "the people could see how beautiful the workmanship was". Beit HaParochet, the workshop where the two Parachot were made, was certainly very large and we do not know where on Har HaBayit it was located. It had to have room for the huge loom necessary to weave such enormous curtains, the weavers, the work tables and adequate storage facilities. Beit HaParochet was one of the places where the Leviyim stood guard in the Beit HaMikdash compound at night. The Mishna (Middot 1:1) states that they stood guard, "...at the Chamber of Lambs (a chamber in Beit HaMokeid in the north of the Azara), at Beit HaParochet and behind the place of the Mercy Seat (i.e. behind the western wall of the Bayit itself)." Even though Beit HaParochet is included in a list of places situated either in the Beit HaMikdash itself or immediately adjacent to it, logis- tically, it is difficult to pinpoint the possible location of such a large workshop in the proximity of the Mikdash.

Located to the west of the Heichal, Kodesh HaKodashim, "inaccessible and inviolable" (Josephus), was twenty Amot square and forty Amot tall. In the Mishkan and in Bayit Rishon, the Aron HaBrit, (Ark of the Covenant), reposed there. The dimensions and attributes of the Aron HaBrit are meticulously detailed in Shemot 25:10-16. "After the Aron was taken away (near the end of Bayit Rishon), a stone remained there from the time of the first Prophets and it was called Shetiya, "Foundation Stone". It was three fingerbreaths above the ground…" (Yoma 3:2) The later Midrashim, such as Perkei D'Rabbi Eliezer, supply additional "biographical" details. The Even HaShetiya, as befitting that physical point around which the universe "revolved", was the first entity to be created. In a Midrashic expansion of Bereishit 28:10-20, Jacob took twelve stones, which stood for the future tribes of Israel, arranged them around his head, and lay down to sleep.

Jacob dreamt of a ladder set on the ground reaching to the heavens, with angels ascending and descend- ing. When he awoke, he took the stone (the 12 stones had miraculously united into one) and set it up as a memorial pillar. Then he anointed the stone with heavenly oil and vowed; "If G-d will be with me, and guard me on this way that I am going; will give me bread to eat and clothes to wear; and I will return in peace to my father's house and the Lord will be my G-d, then this stone which I have set up as a pillar shall become a House of G-d…." Afterwards, G-d sank the anointed stone deep into the center of the earth and then hundreds of years later, raised it to form the floor of Kodesh HaKodashim. Aside from the Cheruvim topping the Aron HaBrit in Bayit Rishon, there were two other representations of these celestial beings in Kodesh HaKoda- shim. Shlomo HaMelech made two colossal Cheruvim ten Amot tall, which were positioned to the north and to the south of the Aron and their wings spread high over the Aron below.

Josephus commented, "Nobody can tell or even conjecture what was the shape of these Cheruvim". In Bayit Sheini, these giant Cheruvim were not restored. The walls and the ceiling of Kodesh HaKodashim were also covered with gold. People who dedicated gold to the Beit HaMikdash could donate it in the form of beaten sheets to embellish the walls of Kodesh HaKodashim. Some of the surplus funds from the annual half-shekel Temple tax required of every male Israelite, was also used to beautify Kodesh HaKodashim with sheets of gold. Under normal circumstances it was forbidden for anyone to enter Kodesh HaKodashim except the Kohein Gadol performing the Avoda of Yom Kippur. <to be continued>

Catriel Sugarman (acatriel@netvision.net.il, 02-652-7531) gives illustrated lectures on the Beit Hamikdash and related topics. Catriel is in the process of writing a book:
The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrim's Perspective: A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service.

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