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 the Kodesh HaKodashim
The two main divisions of the first floor of the Bayit were the Heichal (the Sanctuary) and, further to the west, the Kodesh Hakodashim (the Holy of Holies). They were sections of a single long great hall, divided by two parallel curtains which hung from the ceiling. The area of the Heichal was forty Amot long (An Ama is roughly a half a meter.), twenty Amot wide and forty Amot tall. The area of the Kodesh Hakodashim was twenty Amot square and forty Amot tall. The width of the gap between the two curtains separating the Heichal and Kodesh Hakodashim was one Ama. This one Ama gap was called the Ama Traksin. Tif'eret Yisrael discusses the meaning of Ama Traksin (Middot 4:7; TY 62). "In Bayit Rishon, a wall one Ama thick divided the Heichal - the Sanctuary from the Kodesh HaKodashim and they called this wall Traksin - Greek (sic) for something that faces inward and outward. (Side comment: Greek terminology would be more apropos for the period of Bayit Sheini then it would be for Bayit Rishon.) But there are those who maintain that Traksin was actually an abbreviation - for "Trak - sin"; that is to say that it closes ("Trak") on something of Sinai; i.e. the Aron HaBrit - the Ark of the Convenant, containing the Luchot that Moshe received on Sinai. The height of Bayit Sheini was much greater than that of Bayit Rishon and therefore the distance between the floor and ceiling of the Heichal and Kodesh HaKodashim of Bayit Sheini was also correspondingly greater. In Bayit Rishon, the distance between the floor and ceiling was thirty Amot; in Bayit Sheini, over forty Amot. A stable wall could not be built forty Amot tall with a thickness of only one Ama. For this reason, in Bayit Sheini, they hung curtains instead of building a wall to separate the Heichal and the Kodesh HaKodashim. A question arose concerning this one Ama "gap" created by the absence of the wall between the Heichal and Kodesh HaKodashim. Did the Ama Traksin have the Kedusha of the Heichal or the even greater Kedusha of the Kodesh HaKodashim? Their solution was to hang two curtains with the 'disputed Ama' between them."

Melachim I and Divrei HaYamim II give many detailed descriptions of Bayit Rishon. Among the most detailed is the description of the doors of the Heichal. Melachim I states, "And so he (Shelomo HaMelech) made for the entrance of the Temple door-posts of Atzei Shamen, within a four-square frame; and two doors of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door were folding. And he carved on them Cheruvim and palm trees and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold..." (Melachim I 6:33-35) Eitz Shemen is frequently translated "olive wood" because Shemen - (olive) oil is derived from this tree. But in Nechemia 8:15 the returned exiles are commanded to go to the mountains and bring branches (lit. "leaves") of Alei Zayit (Zayit is the usual word for olive tree) and Alei Eitz Shemen. Possibly Eitz Shemen was some kind of conifer from which fragrant oil could be derived. - Ralbag, (R. Levy ben Gershon 1288 -1344), in his commentary on Melachim postulated that Eitz Shemen is indeed cedar wood. We know that the gold covered doors leading into the Heichal of Bayit Sheini were ornate but we have no graphic details. Josephus describes these doors. "But that gate which was at this end of the first part of the house - the Ulam (the "Entry Hall" anterior to the Heichal leading to the interior of the Bayit) was, as we have already observed, covered with gold all over, as was its whole wall about it." The inner doors opened into the hall of the Heichal and when completely open, covered that small part of the wall behind them which was not embellished with gold. The Mishna in Midot notes, "The entrance into the Heichal (from the Ulam) was twenty Amot high and ten Amot wide. It had four doors; two within, two without…" This particular construction was based on Yechezkel 41:23. 'The Heichal (in this case, Yechezkel employs the term Heichal to mean the entire Bayit - and not just the Sanctuary.) and the Holy Place - i.e. the Sanctuary - had two doors.'" Tif’eret Yisrael explains why then the entrance of the Heichal (the Sanctuary) had four doors. "The Heichal facing out (two doors). The Holy Place, facing in" (two more doors, four doors all together, (Midot 4:1; TY 2). The outer two doors opened inward and so covered the thickness of the wall separating the Ulam and the Heichal. The inner two doors opened into the Heichal (the Sanctuary) and they covered the adjacent wall abutting the doors." This massive entrance of the Heichal was called the Sha'ar HaGadol - the Great Gate.

Tif’eret Yisrael (Midot 4: 2) asserts "that it was not because of the relative size of this massive entrance in comparison to the two small doors one on each side, because the Nicanor Gate also had small doors on either side. The real reason is because of its unique holiness as compared to all the other gates of the Mikdash. And while it may be true that the entrance to the Kodesh HaKodashim would have had a higher degree of sanctity, nevertheless, in Bayit Sheini, there was no actual gate leading into the Kodesh HaKodashim, only hanging curtains."

The walls of Bayit Rishon were magnificent. "And he - Sh’lomo HaMelech - carved all the walls of the Bayit around with figures of Cheruvim and palm trees and open flowers - within and without." Our sources do not mention the artistic details of the interior walls of Bayit Sheini but "all the (walls of the) Bayit was overlaid with gold excepting the area behind the doors." The Amora R. Acha ben Jacob, contended that there were representations of Cheruvim drawn on the interior walls of Bayit Sheini (Note bottom of Yoma 54a). These aureated walls were later covered with removable square decorated golden plates, "the thickness of a gold Roman denarius… and on the pilgrimage festivals - Pesach, Shavu'ot and Sukkot, they used to "fold" them together and put them on a high place on Har HaBayit that all may see that the workmanship was beautiful and that there was no flaw in them" (Pesachim 57a). After the Chag, the "gold plates" would be re-hung in the Heichal. A gold plaque, a gift of Queen Helena of Adiabene, upon which was engraved those Biblical P’sukim which dealt with the Sota - the suspected adulteress - also hung on the wall in the Heichal and was visible from the Ulam.

In the morning, the Kohanim never opened the Sha'ar HaGadol - the Great Gate from without. Instead, a Kohein would walk through a small wicket located in the wall to the north, enter a small "cell", turn left and thereby enter the Heichal. Only then would he unlock the Heichal doors - from within. This unusual procedure served to remind the Kohanim that HaKadosh Baruch Hu was the real Ba'al HaBayit of the Beit HaMikdash. <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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