Loose Ends in the Kodesh HaKodashim! QUESTION from Kiryat Moshe - "Why was there no Amah Traksin wall separating the Heichal from Kodesh HaKodashim in Bayit Sheini? And since there was no dividing wall in Bayit Sheini, why did they continue to use the term?" Tif'eret Yisrael discusses the meaning of Amah Traksin together with one of the major differences between Bayit Rishon and Bayit Sheini (Midot 4:7; Tif'eret Yisrael 62). "In the First Temple, a wall one Amah thick divided the Heichal from Kodesh HaKodashim and they called this wall Traksin - Greek for 'something that faces inward and outward'. There are those who say that Traksin is an abbreviation for 'Trak - sin'; that is to say that it closes ('Trak') on something of Sinai; i.e. the Aron HaBrit, Ark of the Covenant, which contained the two Luchot that Moshe received on Sinai. The height of Bayit Sheini was much greater than that of the Bayit Rishon and therefore the distance between the floor and ceiling of the Heichal and Kodesh HaKodashim was also that much greater. In Bayit Rishon the distance between them was 30 Amot; and in Bayit Sheini, 40. A stable wall could not be built 40 Amot tall with a thickness of only one Amah. Therefore, they were forced to hang curtains to differentiate between the Heichal and Kodesh Hakodashim. A question arose concerning this area of one Amah where the wall used to be; did it have the holiness of the Heichal or the even greater holiness of Kodesh HaKodashim? Their solution was to hang two curtains with the 'disputed Amah' between them."The descriptive use of a Greek word, of course, would be more appropriate for the Second Temple period. QUESTION from Ramat Beit Shemesh - "In my English Bible, Eitz Shemen is simply translated olive wood. Why do you write it with quotations?" The Pasuk in question is, "And for the entrance of the Devir (Kodesh HaKodashim), he (King Solomon) made doors of 'olive' wood, the doorpost within the frame having five angles (pentagonal). And as for the two doors of 'olive wood', he carved upon them… Cheruvim... (I Melachim 6:31,32). Eitz Shemen is frequently translated "olive wood" (Onkelos, Rashi etc.) because Shemen - oil - is derived from this tree. But in Nechemya 8:15 the returned exiles are commanded to go to the mountains and bring branches of Alei Zayit - Zayit is the usual word for olive tree - and Alei Eitz Shemen. So they must have been two different kinds of trees! The Mishna notes that Shemen wood was one of three kinds "customarily" used to burn the Korbanot on the Mizbei'ach. On the other hand, the Mishna specifically proscribed olive wood for this use (Tamid 2:3). It is quite possible that the Eitz Shemen was some kind of conifer from which oil could be derived. And in fact the Yerushalmi(R.H. 2:5) identifies Eitz Shemen with the Dadanin, the pine tree. Surprisingly, (considering the exalted use that King Solomon made of the Eitz Shemen), Metzudat David posits that Eitz Shemen is simply an Ilan Srak, a tree which bears no fruit, a wild tree of no particular value at all. The prophet Yeshiyahu assures us that someday G-d will change the wilderness of Eretz Yisrael into forests of cedars, acacia-trees, myrtles and Atzei Shemen (41:19). King Solomon's pentagonal shaped entrance into Kodesh Hakodashim and its aureated Eitz Shemen doors played a dramatic role in the dedication of Bayit Rishon. "When Solomon built the Beit HaMikdash he wanted to bring the Aron into Kodesh HaKodashim but the gates clave to each other and would not open. Solomon uttered 24 prayers yet he was not answered… But as soon as he prayed, '…turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the good deeds of David your servant.' He was immediately answered and the doors swung open… Then all Israel knew that David's sins were forgiven" (Shabbat 30a). QUESTION from Efrat - "You mentioned that on the floor of Kodesh HaKodashim was a large flat rock which was called the Even HaShetiya, the "Foundation Stone" upon which the Kohein Gadol placed the fire pan with incense when he entered Kodesh HaKodashim on Yom Kippur (Yoma 5:2). What was this stone?" It was called the "Foundation Stone" because we are told that this very stone was the first point of Creation, "from it the world was founded" (Yoma 54a). But "Shetiya" can also mean "drinking" or "satiety". Can we say that the entire world "drank from" or was "nourished" by the blessings that flowed from that Beit HaMikdash which housed the Even HaShetiya in its holiest place? The later Midrashim, e.g. Perkei D'Rabbi Eliezer, add more "biographical details" about the Even HaShetiya. In a Midrashic expansion of Bereishit 28:10-20, Jacob took twelve stones, which stood for the future tribes of Israel, arranged them around his head, and lay down to sleep. He dreamt of angels ascending and descending a mighty ladder which reached to the vaults of heaven. When he awoke, he took the stone - the 12 stones had miraculously united into one - and set it up as a memorial pillar. He anointed the stone with oil and vowed; "If G-d will be with me, and guard me on this way that I am going; will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear; and I will return in peace to my father's house, and the Lord will be my G-d - then this stone which I have set up as a pillar shall become a House of G-d…" After Jacob departed, G-d sank the stone deep into the earth. Hundreds of years later, He raised it to the surface and set it on Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem. When the Mikdash was built, it became the place of Kodesh HaKodashim where the Ark of the Covenant rested. QUESTION from Ra'anana - "In the 2nd. Temple, (on Yom Kippur) the Kohein Gadol placed the fire pan "upon" the stone, whereas in the 1st. Temple he placed it "before" the Aron. Interesting distinction. Why would the fire pan not have also been placed before the stone even in the absence of the Aron?" We do not know how much of Kodesh HaKodashim's floor in Bayit Sheini was taken up by the Even HaShetiya. It is not likely that the Even HaShetiya was just a primeval rock jutting out in the middle of a polished floor; it probably took up most of the floor space. Where was the elevated Even HaShetiya situated in relation to the inner of the two great curtains which separated Kodesh HaKodashim from the Heichal? Would there even have been enough room to place a fire pan filled with glowing coals on the floor "before" the stone without causing a fire hazard by being in too close proximately to the inflammable curtain? We don't know. But Ithink there is another reason which is even more pertinent. If the Kohein Gadol placed the fire pan "before" the Even HaShetiya, it might imply that we believed that there was a certain inherent holiness attached to the stone itself. The Even HaShetiyah, for all its exalted location and history, was still only a stone. It could not be compared in Kedusha to the Aron, whose function and very form were revealed to us in loving detail from On High. Therefore the fire pan was placed "upon" the Even Hashetiyah and not "before" it. Catriel's book in progress: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrims Prospective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service [The
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