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.

Sources of Water for the Mikdash (II)
The water supplied by aqueducts in the period of Bayit Sheini flowed into "...an extensive distribution system. First the water flowed into one or more tanks (and was kept there for a period of time) to let mud and pebbles settle out. Thence the water was piped to a tower called a castellum or 'little castle'. Because the water in the aqueduct was not under pressure, the water level in the castellum could not be higher than that in the aqueduct from which it came. From the castellum, the water flowed into several smaller tanks." The Avodot, the rinsing of the dismembered sacrificial animals, maintenance, and waste removal required enormous amounts of water. The smaller tanks receiving water from the castellum emptied into a system of pipes that branched out and conveyed water to every place in the Mikdash that required it. Separate water pipes led directly from the aqueduct to the Borot HaMayim - Otzrot HaMayim reservoirs connected to the Mikva'ot of the Mikdash and environs, thereby circumventing the waiting tanks and the castellum. The directly channeled water was considered halachically 'natural water' and was therefore deemed suitable for the required 40 Se'ah of water stored in the Borot HaMayim - Otzrot HaMayim reservoirs of the Mikva'ot. (More on Mikdash Mikva'otin future Yibaneh HaMikdash articles.)

Cleaning the Azara and removing the blood required tremendous amounts of water. The Letter of Aristeas tells us how some of the blood was removed. “And the whole floor is paved with stone and sloped leading to the appropriate places to allow for the flushing of water which occurs so as to cleanse the blood from the sacrifices for many tens of thousands of beasts are brought for sacrifice on the days of the festivals… There were also many openings at the base (of the Mizbei'ach) which were invisible to all except those who have the duty of carrying out the Service, so all the blood of the sacrifices, which is collected in huge amounts, is cleansed by the downward momentum and slope” (ibid. 90). The Mishna – referring to the Kohanim's cleaning of the Azara after the Olei Regel finished offering their Korbanot Pesach reads, “As the ritual was performed on a weekday so was it performed on Shabbat except that then, the Kohanim would scrub down the Azara despite the displeasure of the Sages… The flow (of the running water in the plumbing system fed by the aqueduct water) would be stopped and as a result the water would overflow and flood the Azara. They would wash down the marble floor, remove the spilled (sacrificial) blood, and then unplug the stoppers. Then all the dirty water would flow out” (Pesachim 5:8, Tif'eret Yisrael 54). Interestingly enough, the Rambam in Hil. Korban Pesach 1:16 rules in favor of the Kohanim despite "the displeasure of the Sages".

The scrubbing down of the marble floor is a Shevut and not Biblically forbidden. Designed to enhance Shabbat observance, a Shevut is a rabbinical prohibition of an activity that is actually permitted by the Torah, but is incongruous with the spirit of Shabbat as conceived by the Sages. Quoting the well-known axiom, Rambam continues, "There is no prohibition of Shevut in the Mikdash, even if the 'Shevut activity' is not necessary for the actual performance of the Avoda." This concept of artificial flooding was not unique to the Beit HaMikdash. Vespasian began and his son Titus - the destroyer of Jerusalem and the Mikdash – completed a huge amphitheater in Rome which came to be known as the Colosseum. The arena could be flooded for the staging of naumachiae or mock naval battlesfor the amusement of the Roman populace. Aqueducts conveyed water to the Colosseum from distant sources

But aqueducts bringing water from remote springs were not the only structures designed and built to supply water to the Mikdash. Aristeas (89,91) rhapsodizes about "the marvelous and indescribable reservoirs underground" constructed to meet the Mikdash's water needs. The Mishna refers specifically to one such cistern. "TheGola chamber (located in the Azara) - the Gola Cistern was there… and from thence they drew water enough (to supply the needs of) the whole Temple court" (Midot 4:4). Nearby was an even larger reservoir called "the Great Cistern" (Eruvin 10:14). In fact we know of at least thirty-six extant cisterns carved out of the localmizi helu and melekeh rock on Har HaBayit. Ingeniously designed to collect and conserve rain water, some of these rock-cut cisterns are quite large. Ben Sira describes one cistern dug by Shim'on HaTzadik. "In his days was hewn out the reservoir for the waters, a cistern like the circumference of the sea." The Mishna refers to a Ba'al Teki'ah blowing the Shofar while standing in a cistern (Rosh HaShana 3:7). Rambam (ibid.) discusses the possibility of a group of people standing together with him. One colossal cistern dating from the time of Bayit Sheini was discovered in the Battei Machse in the Jewish Quarter. Its dimensions are 22m by 7mwith a depth of 15m. The newly dug cisterns were water- proofed with lime mortar so that they retained the collected water. The roof of the Aliya, the second floor of the Bayit, was slanted in such a way as to cause the falling rainwater to be directed to the Beit Horadat HaMayim conduit on the southern side of the Bayit. The Beit Horadat HaMayim then channeled the water to underground cisterns (Midot 4:7, Tif'eret Yisrael 68). (Incidentally the importance of the waterproofed cistern in the demographic history of Eretz Yisrael cannot be overestimated. The noted archeologist W.F. Fulbright contends that the limestone sealed waterproof cistern was an Israelite invention. Once rain- water could be easily stored, it meant that new Israelite Yishuvim could be established in drier mountainous areas that were not in immediate proximity to flowing water. Cisterns had definite advantages. They could be built virtually anywhere; the rainwater collected from the slanted roofs remained pure, and since they were tightly sealed and inaccessible to mosquitoes, they did not spread malaria. The only reliable source of water during times of war and siege was the water supply in the cisterns. In 1948, during the Arab siege of Jerusalem, water collected in cisterns played a major rolein preventing the Jewish population from dying of thirst.)

But neither aqueducts nor cisterns (or their modern equivalents) will be necessary in Bayit Shlishi. The Gemara promises us that in Bayit Shlishi, "the spring that issues forth from the Kodesh HaKodashim in its beginning resembles the antennae of locusts; as it reaches the entrance of the Heichal, it becomes as the thread of the warp; as it reaches the Ulam, it becomes as the thread of the woof; as it reaches the entrance of the Azara, it becomes as large as the mouth of a small flask… From there onward it becomes bigger, rising higher and higher, until it reaches the House of David – outside the walls of Jerusalem - As soon as it reaches the entrance to the House of David, it becomes even as a swiftly flowing brook… as it is said "On that day, there shall be a fountain opened for the House of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for purification and sprinkling'" (Zecharia 13:1, Yoma 77a).

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