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.

Shim'on HaTzadik, "Simeon the Just"
One of the most inspiring figures in Jewish history is Shim'on HaTzadik, a Kohein Gadol who flourished in the earlier days of Bayit Sheini. Josephus noted "his piety towards G-d and his kind deposition to those of his own nation…" (Antiquities XII 2:5). Unique among Chachmei Yisrael, Shim'on HaTzadik was the only sage to be distinguished by the title "HaTzadik" (the "Just" or "Righteous"). He is best known for his celebrated maxim in the beginning of Pirkei Avot, "The world is based on three things: on Torah, on Avoda and on deeds of loving-kindness" (Avot 1: 2).

After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, there was a fierce power struggle between the Macedonian generals who succeeded him. Ptolemy seized control of Egypt and Seleucus came to rule northern Syria, Babylon and points east; Eretz Yisrael was joined to the Ptolemaic Empire.

In 204 BCE, King Ptolemy IV Philopater died and a motley coterie of nobles ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the name of Ptolemy V Epiphanies, who was still a minor. Ineffectual rulers, they were unable to see to the defense of their country. Young and ambitious King Antiochus III saw his chance and invaded southern Syria and Eretz Yisrael. Decisively defeating the Egyptians, he absorbed these areas into his kingdom. Surprisingly, the Jews supported him. Josephus quotes a royal epistle, "When we came to their city (Jerusalem), the Jews received us in a splendid manner… and gave an abundance of provisions to our soldiers, and to the elephants, and joined with us in ejecting the Egyptian garrison that was in the citadel." But after a century of peace, Jerusalem had been devastated by the fighting. In return for Jewish support, Antiochus permitted the tax-free importing of wood from Lebanon to help rebuild the city and granted permission to the Jews to "live according to their ancestral laws." Jerusalemites were exempted from all taxes for three years and afterwards their taxes were reduced by a third. Those who were captured and sold as slaves during the war were liberated and their property restored to them. Antiochus was especially generous to the Beit HaMikdash which had been seriously damaged. "I would also have the work about the Temple finished and the cloisters, and if there be anything else that ought to be rebuilt …to make the Temple more glorious." He also underwrote the cost of "animals fit for sacrifice, for wine, and oil and frankincense… wheat and salt… the priests, and the scribes of the Temple, and the sacred singers be discharged from poll money and the crown tax and other taxes also" (Antiquities XII: 3).

The Greek variant of the apocryphal book of Ben Sira describes the active role played by Shim'on HaTzadik, the incumbent Kohein Gadol, in the work of reconstruction.

Simon, the son of Onias was the High Priest
Who in life patched up the house
And in his days made firm the Temple;
And by him was laid the foundation of the height of the court
The high underwork of the enclosed precinct of the Temple.
In his days was hewn out the reservoir for the waters,
A cistern like the circumference of the sea.
Who took thought for (preventing) his people from falling,
And strengthened the city against siege...

But Shim'on HaTzadik is not noted in Jewish history for his administrative abilities, he is revered for his saintliness. When he was Kohein Gadol, miraculous signs of Divine favor were clearly evidenced in the Mikdash. When Shim'on HaTzadik was Kohein Gadol, the lot choosing the "For the Lord" goat on Yom Kippur always came up in his right hand, a favorable omen for the coming year. After he passed away, "it would come up now in the right hand, now in the left…". During the Yom Kippur Avoda, strips of crimson- colored wool were tied between the horns of the Sa'ir LaAzazel and also to a rock in close proximity to where the goat was pushed over the precipice. During Shim'on HaTzadik's tenure, the wool always miraculously turned white, a sign of grace for K'lal Yisrael.

"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow (Yeshayahu 1:18). After he died, sometimes the wool remained scarlet. "Throughout the 40 years (of Shim'on HaTzadik's tenure as Kohein Gadol), the western-most light (of the Menora) would remain lit …" Every afternoon (and morning), the Kohanim would clean the Menora and pour oil into each one of the seven lamps. Even after the other lamps were quenched, the western lamp continually remained afire.

This miraculous occurrence was seen as a sign that the Shechina rested in the Mikdash. After the demise of Shim'on HaTzadik, "sometimes it (the western lamp) would remain lit, sometimes it would go out." During Shim'on HaTzadik's term of office, "the sacrificial wood pile fire on the Mizbei'ach burned strongly on its own, so the Kohanim did not have to add any additional wood except for the (obligatory, daily) two wooden blocks" (note Zevachim 26b). After his death, the Kohanim were constantly bringing wood to feed the sacrificial fire.

"In the year that Shim'on HaTzadik died, he foretold that he would die. They said, 'How do you know?' he replied, 'On every (other) Yom Kippur an old man dressed in white… would join me, entering (the Kodesh HaKodashim) and leaving it with me. But today I was joined by an old man, dressed in black… who entered but did not leave with me.' After Sukkot, Shim'on HaTzadik sickened… then died. From that time on, the Kohanim stopped verbalizing the Sheim HaMeforash - the Ineffable Name - in Birkat Kohanim" (Yoma 39b). Tosafot (Sota 38a, "Harei") explains, "Every place where I reveal Myself there, only there are you are permitted to utter My (Ineffable) Name." After the passing of Shim'on HaTzadik, and the disappearance of the evident signs of Divine favor, the Kohanim realized that the Shechina no longer "filled" the Mikdash and ceased verbalizing the Shem HaMeforash.

“How was he (Shim'on Hatzadik) glorified when the people gathered around him,
In his coming out of the House of the Veil.
He was like a morning star in the midst of the cloud,
Like a full moon on festival days.
Like the sun shining on the Temple of the Most High,
Like a rainbow giving light in clouds of glory.
Like a flower of roses on new-moon days,
Like a lily by springs of water.
Like a shoot of Lebanon on summer days.
Like fire and incense upon the censor...
(Wisdom of Ben Sira)

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