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 Ulam - the "Entrance Hall"
When the Kohanim ascended the 12 steps leading to the Ulam, the entrance hall of the Bayit, they passed through a colossal portal 40 Amot tall and 20 Amot wide (an Amah is rough a half a meter). This "gate had no doors; for it represented the universal visibility of heaven, and that it (heaven) cannot be excluded from any place…" (Josephus, Wars V, 5:4). The Mishna adds, "The thickness (of the outer wall) was five (Amot)…" (Midot 4:7). The Ulam, the easternmost of the three divisions of the first floor of the Bayit, (the others being the Heichal (Sanctuary) and the Kodesh Hakodashim) was 11 Amot deep and 90 Amot wide.

The Ulam also had the ultimate (Excuse the expression!) cathedral ceiling because in that narrow space, the ceiling of the Ulam soared 85 Amot above the floor! "Cedar beams were fixed between the wall of the Heichal and the wall of the Ulam (above the portal) to prevent it from buckling" (Midot 3:8). These beams added much needed stability to the outer wall which had no other buttresses to reinforce it. "A golden vine stood in the entrance of the Heichal, trained over posts (above the entrance to the Heichal); and whosoever gave a leaf, or a berry or a cluster (of gold) as a free-will offering, brought it and (the Kohanim) hung it thereon" and "three hundred Kohanim - 'a term of exaggeration (Tamid 29a)' - were required to move it" (Midot 3:8). Josephus paints a glorious picture of the Ulam. "But that gate (leading into the Heichal) which was at the end of the first part of the house was… all over covered with gold, as its whole wall around it; it also had golden vines above it, from which clusters of grapes hung as tall as a man's height." The majesty of this famed gold vine was also noted in the works of the anti-Semitic Roman writers Tacticus (Historiae V 5:5) and Florus (Epitoma I: 40:30). Massive columns supported the "posts" and the golden vine "growing" over them (Latin version of Josephus' Antiquities 15. 394,5). Basing themselves on the Latin Antiquities, some scholars posit that a pictorial representation of the entrance to the Heichal, the pillars and even the golden vine is immortalized on some of the famous Bar Kochba tetrarachma coins. (While some scholars believe that the tetra-dramcha depicts a representation of the facade of the Bayit, there are two difficulties that make this theory untenable: (1) There is no written source, neither in Josephus nor in the rabbinical writings which confirms the existence of pillars (a la Holyland Hotel Temple model) or any other decoration on the front of the Bayit aside from the gold blocks covering the facade described in Wars V. (2) The Mishna meticulously describes the "five carved oak" lintels over the Bayit portal (Midot 3:7), ergo, the top of the entranceway of the Bayit was flat and not round like the structure depicted in the tetra-drachma coin.) The wavy line above the columns on some of the tetra- dramchas may very well be an abstract representation of the golden vine! The grapevine was from earliest times a symbol of Knesset Yisrael (Tehillim 80:9-11, Yirmiyahu 2:21, Yechezkel 17:5-8 and more).

The Mishna continues, "And there were chains of gold fixed to the roof-beams of the Ulam by which the young Kohanim used to climb up and see the crowns (positioned for beauty) in the windows (in the western wall of the Ulam overlooking the Heichal)", however sources do not mention windows anywhere else. The windows overlooking the Heichal were constructed narrow on the inside and wide on the outside to demonstrate that the Mikdash did not need light from the outside but rather it itself was the source of all true light. “The Great Gate (leading into the Heichal) was 20 amot high and 10 amot wide. There were two sets of double doors at the entrance to the Heichal; the outer doors opened into the inside of the entry and covered the thickness of the wall, and the inner doors opened into the inside of the Heichal and covered the space behind the doors” (Midot 4:1). The inner doors swung inward 180 degrees and covered the adjacent walls on either side. The entranceway between the Ulam and the Heichal also had a resplendent curtain celebrated for its beauty. Josephus gives a detailed, (but perplexing) description. “But before these doors there was a veil of equal largeness with the doors. It was a Babylonian curtain, embroidered with blue and fine linen, and scarlet, and purple, and of a contexture that was truly wonderful. Nor was this mixture of colors without its mystical interpretation, but was a kind of image of the universe. For by the scarlet there seemed to be an enigmatically signified fire, by the fine flax the earth, by the blue the air, and by the purple the sea; two of them having their colors this foundation of this resemblance; but the fine flax and the purple have their own origin for their foundation, the earth producing the one and the sea producing the other. This curtain also had embroidered upon it all that was mystical in the heavens, excepting that of the twelve signs, representing living creatures" (Josephus, Wars V). Josephus was not the only eyewitness who was struck by the grandeur of this curtain. The author of the Letter of Aristias commented, "In particular the material of the curtain acquired continual movement because of the draught of air… which... worked from the bottom of the curtain through the folds to make a billowing effect to the top. This action made a pleasing sight which it was difficult to drag oneself away from” (Aristeas 86). The curtain was usually closed and in fact the Mishna refers to the “officer raising the curtain for the Kohein Gadol when he exited the Heichal" (Tamid 7:1). Unlike the Heichal doors, if the curtain was closed, it did not affect the validity of the Korbanot. It was considered indecorous for the Kohanim to gaze into the Heichal as they performed the Avoda standing on the Mizbei'ach to the east.

The Kohanim never opened the Heichal doors from the outside i.e. from the Ulam. “He (the Kohein assigned to opening the doors) reached the northern small door. The ‘Great Gate’ (i.e. the entrance of the Heichal) had two small doors on either side, one to the north and one to the south. No one ever entered through the southern door, as it is said by Ezekiel (44:2), 'And the Lord said to me, ‘This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, neither shall any man ever enter in through it, for the Lord, the G-d of Israel hath entered through it; therefore it shall be shut.’” (Tamid 3:7). (Perhaps this sealed door was a silent reminder to the Kohanim to remember with “fear and trepidation” to Whom the Beit HaMikdash really belonged. Kohanim need doors and entranceways, the Holy One Blessed be He does not!) "And why was the entrance to the Heichal called ‘Great? Because its level of holiness was greater than that of all the other gates. The entrance to the Holy of Holies is holier, however there, there was no gate; only two curtains” (Midot 2:4, Tif'eret Yisrael 15). The Mishna continues, “He (the Kohein) took the key and opened the northern door. He entered a cell (and by turning left) came into the Heichal … and then opened the locks (and doors from the inside). He who slaughtered the morning Tamid never slaughtered it until he heard the noise of the opening of the Great Gate” (Tamid 3:7). After the afternoon Tamid was sacrificed, the doors of the Heichal were closed.

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