SHEYIBANEH BEIT HAMIKDASH...
A series of articles on Beit HaMikdash-related topics by Catriel Sugarman 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 Shulchan and the Lechem HaPanim
The Shulchan, the table upon which the Lechem HaPanim was placed every Friday, was located 2½ Amot from the northern wall of the Heichal, in close proximity to the Parochet. Prepared by the kohanic family of Beit Garmu and placed on the Shulchan every Shabbat, the Lechem HaPanim consisted of 12 large unleavened loaves made of the finest wheat flour set in golden moulds. Josephus, while ostensibly describing the Shulchan of the Mishkan (Sh'mot 25:23-29), paints us a multicolored (though somewhat unclear) picture of the Shulchan as it appeared in his day. "But in the holy place he (Moses) placed a table like those in Delphi (?) … It had feet also, the lower half of which were complete feet, resembling those, which the Dorians put to their bedsteads; but the upper parts towards the table were wrought into a square form. The table had a hollow towards every side, having a ledge of four fingers depth, that went around like a spiral, both on the upper and lower part of the body of the work. …Upon every one of the feet was there also inserted a ring, not far from the cover, through which went bars of wood beneath, but gilded to be taken out upon occasion, there being a cavity where it was joined to the rings; for they were not entire rings; but before they became quite round they ended in acute points, the one of which was inserted into the prominent part of the table, and the other into the foot; and by these it was carried when they journeyed (in the wilderness CS). Upon this table which was placed on the north side of the Temple, not far from the most holy place, were laid twelve unleavened loaves of bread, six upon each heap, and one above the other" (Antiquities Bk. 3; chap. 6:6). The Shulchan was one of the treasures stolen by Antiochus Epiphanies (I Mac. 1:23) and later replaced by Judah Maccabee when he purified and restored the Mikdash to divine worship.

Beit Garmu prepared the Lechem HaPanim in a special room called the Lishkat Osei Lechem HaPanim, "Chamber of the Showbread Makers", located in the Beit HaMokeid, on the northern side of the Azara. The employment of a kohanic family in the Mikdash to bake the Lechem HaPanim was actually an innovation instituted during Bayit Sheini. In Bayit Rishon, the Levitical family Bnei Hakehati "were over the Lechem Hama'arechet" (i.e. Lechem HaPanim) to prepare it every Shabbat" (I Divrei Hayamim 9:32). The salary of the bakers and the cost of the flour were taken from the Machatzit Hashekel, the half-shekel Temple tax, that was paid annually to the Mikdash treasury, by every adult male Israelite (Shekalim 4:1). Aside from what is written in the Torah (Vayikra 24:6-9), our primary source relating to the placement of the Lechem HaPanim, is the Mishna in Menachot and its attendant Gemarot and commentaries. When a festival occurred on Friday, the Kohanim of Beit Garmubaked the Lechem HaPanim on Thursday. It is likely that the Lechem HaPanim remained in the Lishkat Osei Lechem HaPanim under lock and key until the appointed time on Shabbat when the Kohanim brought them into the Bayit.

Two groups of four Kohanim entered the Bayit every Shabbat to place fresh Lechem HaPanim on the Shulchan and to remove the loaves of the previous week. Two of the Kohanim of the first group carried the twelve new loaves with their golden moulds into the Ulam and placed them on the marble table that was located north of the Great Gate. The Mishna relates, "In the Ulam - the entrance hall - there were two tables; one of marble and one of gold. On the table of marble they laid the new Lechem HaPanim when it was brought in and they laid the old Lechem HaPanim on the table of gold when they brought it out of the Heichal" (Menachot 11:7). The Mishna explains why the old Lechem HaPanim, after having been removed from the Shulchan, was placed on a gold table in the Ulam, while the new Lechem HaPanim only "rated" a marble table. "What is holy must be raised (in honor) and not lowered." The old Lechem HaPanim had reposed on a gold table; for it to be placed on a marble table would be a "comedown." Balancing six loaves and their moulds required great agility and strength because they were certainly heavy and unwieldy. (In light of the well-known Biblical passage, "In the multitude of the people is the glory of the King, (Mishlei 14:28)", frequently quoted as a reason to increase the number of Kohanim participating in other Avodot, it is surprising that only two Kohanim were designated to carry all those loaves and their gold moulds. It would have been considerably less exhausting for the Kohanim involved, and it would have considerably lessened the risk of the Lechem HaPanim falling on the floor, if the task would have been delegated to more Kohanim in accordance with the philosophy of the quoted dictum. IMHO.) "They who brought the loaves in, stood on the north side with their faces towards the south (and their backs against the northern wall of the Heichal); those who removed the old Lechem HaPanim from the Shulchan stood on the south with their faces to the north. Those who removed the old loaves... [and other Kohanim] replaced them with the new loaves and there was always one Tefach where one overlaid the other, as it is written, 'Before Me continually'" (Sh'mot 25:30, Menachot 11:7).

However, there is another opinion that "even if the old (Lechem HaPanim) was removed in the morning and the new set down only in the evening," it was tolerable. What was important, according to R. Yosi's rejected opinion, was that the Shulchan should not be bereft of Lechem HaPanim overnight (Menachot 99b). The other two Kohanim in this group carried flat-bottomed ladles holding the new frankincense. This frankincense was placed on top of the two piles of loaves. (This is according to the description in Antiquities bk. 3, ch. 6:6 cited above. However, the Rambam accepts the ruling of Abba Sha'ul, Menachot 11:5, which states that the flat-bottomed ladles containing the frankincense were placed between the piles of Lechem HaPanim loaves. Note Hilchot Temidin U'musafin 5:2) The four Kohanim charged with removing the Lechem HaPanim were members of the Mishmeret beginning one of its two annual weeks of service in the Mikdash: the Kohanim in the second group were members of the Mishmeret that was concluding its week of service. Upon exiting the Heichal, the Kohanim placed the old loaves on the gold table located south of the entrance of the Ulam. Then they were removed from the Heichal and distributed among the Kohanim of both Mishmarot. The two ladles of frankincense that accompanied the Lechem HaPanim were also replaced weekly; the old frankincense once removed was burnt on the Mizbei'ach. The Kohanim could not eat their allotted Lechem HaPanim until the frankincense (later salted like all other Korbanot) had been cast into and consumed by the sacrificial fire ablaze on the southwest corner of the Mizbei'ach.

The Gemara tells us that one of the miracles of the Beit Hamikdash was that the Lechem HaPanim, even after being exposed to the open air for an entire week - from Shabbat to Shabbat - remained as fresh and as piping hot as the moment when the Kohanim took them out of the oven (Menachot 29a). -to be continued-

Catriel's book in progress: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrim’s Perspective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service