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.

Heleni Hamalka, A Real Person, Not Just a Street
The Mishna reads, "Heleni Hamalka, Queen Helena, set a golden Nivreshet over the door of the Heichal…" (Yoma 3:10). Who was this royal personage and what exactly did she donate to the Mikdash? Queen of a small independent state in northern Mesopotamia, Helena of Adiabene together with her family, embraced Judaism some 40 years before the Destruction.

She and her sons became known for their generosity, their devotion to Torah and their love for Am Yisrael. Her name and the fact that she was originally married to her brother confirm her Greek origin. “It once happened that the son of Heleni Hamalka went to war and she said, ‘If he comes back safely, I will become a Nazarite’. Her son did return from the war and she did become a Nazarite. At the end of seven years she came to Eretz Yisrael and (the sages of) Beit Hillel told her that she had to remain a Nazarite yet another seven years." The Queen was apparently unaware that, because of the laws of ritual purity enforced by the Sages outside of Eretz Yisrael, her Nezirut was invalid. When she came to Jerusalem, she was required to begin anew in accordance with her original oath. "At the end of the (second) seven years, she became ritually impure and she (had to begin again, and as a result,) remained a Nazarite a total of 21 years" (Nazir 3: 6).

Josephus relates, "She (Heleni Hamalka) had a mind to go to the city of Jerusalem and worship at that Temple of G-d which was so very famous among men, and to offer her thank offerings there... Now her coming was of great advantage to the people of Jerusalem; for whereas a famine did oppress them, and many people died for want of what was necessary to procure food... Queen Helena sent some of her servants to Alexandria with money to buy a great quantity of grain, and others to Cyrus, to bring a cargo of dried figs. And as soon as they came back, and had brought these provisions... she distributed food to those who were in want of it..." (Antiquities 20:3). The Gemara ascribes this act of supreme righteousness to her son King Monobaz (II). "It is related of Monobaz that he dissipated all his own hoards and the hordes of his fathers in years of scarcity. His bothers and his father's household came in a delegation to him and said, 'Your father saved money and added to the treasures of his fathers, and you are squandering them.' He replied, 'My fathers stored up below and I am storing up above... My fathers stored in a place which can be tampered with, but I have stored in a place which cannot be tampered with… My fathers gathered treasures of money and I have gathered treasures of souls...' (Baba Batra 11a). King Monobaz also donated handsome gifts to the Beit HaMikdash. "King Monobaz had all the handles of all the vessels used on Yom Kippur made of gold… He also made of gold the base of the vessels, the rims of the vessels, the handles of the vessels, and the handles of the knives… (Yoma 37a,b).

R. Yehuda once referred to the oversized Sukka that Heleni Hamalka built in Lod during her sojourn in Eretz Yisrael. "Her Sukka was higher than 20 Amot (the maximum internal measurement permitted by halacha). Nevertheless, the elders (continually) would enter and leave and they did not say to her (words of rebuke)". But was Heleni Hamalka's structure indeed a proof of the Halachic validity of such a tall Sukka? Sukka is a positive mitzva and is time-related (Mitzvat Asei She'haZ'man G'rama). Since Heleni Hamalka was a woman, she was exempt anyway (note Kiddushin 1:7)." R. Yehuda pointed out, "Did she not have seven sons (and would not at least one of them be old enough to be obligated to eat in a valid Sukka)? Besides", R. Yehuda continued, "she did not do anything that was not strictly in conformance with the words of the Sages..." (Sukka 2b). She and her son also built palaces in Jerusalem in the City of David.

The Nivreshet, referred to above, was actually a rather unusual timepiece. "When the (rising) sun shined on it, it sparkled (from reflected light) and then everybody knew that the time had arrived for K'riyat Sh'ma. An objection was raised. One who reads the Sh'ma together with the men of the Mishmar (i.e. the Kohanim serving in the Mikdash that week) or the men of the Ma'amad (laymen, representatives of K'lal Yisrael, who stood next to the Korban Tamid as it was being slaughtered, and recited various P'sukim from the Torah) has not fulfilled his obligation. The men of the Mishmar read the Shema too early and the men of the Ma'amad read it too late! (The Amora) Abaye said: 'The Nivreshet was for the rest of the people of Jerusalem…'" (Yoma 37b). Rashi contends that Abaye meant that the glowing Nivreshet was a sign for the other people standing in the Azara, Olei Regel etc., who did not fall into one of the two abovementioned categories. Tif'eret Yisrael disagreed. "Since the Bayit was 100 Amot tall (roughly 50m) and it stood on the summit of Har HaBayit (and therefore was visible from all over the city), when the sun rose, the Nivreshet which was made of bright shiny gold would reflect the sun so brightly that all the inhabitants of Jerusalem knew that the time of K'riyat Sh'ma had arrived" (Yoma 3:10, Tif'eret Yisrael 61). The word Nivreshet is usually mistranslated in English as "candlestick", but the Nivreshet was not a candlestick. The Nivreshet was an elegant burnished mirror constructed of polished gold, strategically placed high above the (40 Amot tall) entrance way of the Bayit, to catch and reflect the rays of the early morning sun. But Heleni Hamalka donated another handsome gift to the Mikdash as well - a gold plaque with engraved P'sukim from the Torah which discuss the Sotah, the suspected adulteress (Bamidbar 5:11-31). While her gift could not be used in the actual rite of the Sotah, it could be used for copying the necessary parchment scrolls required by the Kohanim for its proper performance. It is likely that the gold plaque was hung on the wall of the Heichal above a particular removable stone positioned in the floor immediately to the right of the entrance. Underneath this stone was dust used as an ingredient in the preparation of the Mayim Hamarim - the "bitter waters". (The Sotah had to drink this potentially lethal brew to either ascertain her guilt or prove her innocence.) One Ama square, this stone, was topped with a ring-handle that was used to lift it. (note Sotah 2:2). According to the Tosefta (Sotah 282), Heleni Hamalka's gold "Sotah plaque" was visible from the Ulam.

When Heleni Hamalka died (she had returned to Adiabene in the meantime), "Monobaz sent her bones… to Jerusalem and gave orders that they should be buried in the pyramids which his mother had erected. They were three in number, and no further than three furlongs (roughly 2/3 of a kilometer) from the city of Jerusalem…" (Antiquities XX, 4:3). Purported to be Heleni Hamalka's final resting place, the extant Tomb of the Kings located north of the Old City, boasts a magnificent portal flanked by ionic pillars supporting an architrave decorated with carved leaves, and a frieze embellished with clusters of grapes and acanthus leaves.

Catriel is in the process of writing a book: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrims Prospective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service