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text: English Explanation of Mishnah Middot
  ביאור אנגלי על משנה מדות
  merged
  
  This file contains merged sections from the following text versions:
  -Mishnah Yomit by Dr. Joshua Kulp
  -
  
  English Explanation of Mishnah Middot
  
  Introduction
  
  Tractate Middot is a detailed description of the Second Temple as built by Herod during the end of the first century B.C.E. The word “Middot” means “measurements” and it refers to the measurements of the Temple.  
  We should note that the sources of this description can be varied. Some of the sources are from the sages own memories or transmitted oral tradition. However, the memory of the Temple sometimes contains discrepancies and is sometimes brought in piecework. There are even occasional debates as to what exactly the Temple looked like. Occasionally, the rabbis use Ezekiel’s visions of the Temple in their own description, even though they were aware that the actual Temple did not look exactly as Ezekiel described it. On other occasions they even use descriptions of Solomon’s Temple, under the assumption that the First Temple served as guideline for the building of the Second Temple. 
  Josephus also offers up a detailed description of the Temple, and his description does not always accord with the rabbis’ description. We should also note that their reasons for describing the Temple were different. The rabbis described the Temple so that subsequent generations would rebuild it, speedily and in their time. Josephus described the Temple so that he could impress the Greeks. However, both the rabbis and Josephus agree that it was a most impressive building.
  Middot has many similarities with Tamid, so we will make frequent reference to it as we learn these mishnayot. Both tractates are descriptive and differ distinctly from most of the other tractates we have learned.
  Good luck in learning Middot!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Mishnah 1
  
  Introduction
  Tractate Middot opens with the same exact line as did Tamid a list of where the priests kept watch all night. However, the interest of the two tractates is a bit different. Middot is interested in the watch itself, whereas Tamid was more interested in locating the priests before their daily work began.
  The beginning of Numbers 18 states that the priests and Levites are to stand guard at the Tabernacle, an idea that was later applied to the Temple as well. It seems that this guarding could serve two functions: practical and ceremonial. The Temple is akin to a palace and a palace needs guard both for protection and protocol (think about the guards in front of Buckingham Palace). The idea that there were a total of twenty-four places in the Temple where either priests or Levites would stand guard is mentioned also in I Chronicles 26:17-18.
  In three places the priests keep watch in the Temple: in the chamber of Avtinas, in the chamber of the spark, and in the fire chamber.  There were three places in the Temple where the priests would keep watch at night: The chamber of Avtinas, where they would prepare the incense. The chamber of the spark, where they kept the fire to light the fires on the altars. The fire chamber where they kept a large fire to keep the priests warm at night.
  And the Levites in twenty-one places: Five at the five gates of the Temple Mount; Four at its four corners on the inside; Five at five of the gates of the courtyard; Four at its four corners on the outside; One at the offering chamber; One at the chamber of the curtain, And one behind the place of the kapporet.  There were twenty-one places where the Levites kept watch: A: The five gates to enter the Temple Mount. B: The four inside corners of the walls surrounding the Temple Mount. Sort of like prison guards. C: There were seven gates to the courtyard (see mishnah four) but the Levites guarded only five of them. D: At the four corners inside the walls surrounding the Temple. E: The “offering chamber” was in the burning place. We will learn more about this place in mishnah six. F: Where the curtain was kept. G: This refers to behind the Holy of Holies.
  
  Mishnah 2
  
  The officer of the Temple Mount used to go round to every watch, with lighted torches before him, and if any watcher did not rise [at his approach] and say to him, “Shalom to you, officer of the Temple Mount, it was obvious that he was asleep. Then he used to beat him with his rod.And he had permission to burn his clothes. And the others would say: What is the noise in the courtyard? It is the cry of a Levite who is being beaten and whose clothes are being burned, because he was asleep at his watch. Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob said: once they found my mother's brother asleep, and they burnt his clothes.Today’s mishnah describes the officer in charge of security on the Temple Mount who would go around and check to make sure no one was asleep on his watch. If he found anyone asleep he would beat them, and perhaps even burn their clothes. Don’t ask me what they would do without any clothes!The mishnah is straightforward (although a bit harsh) and therefore doesn’t really need explanation.
  
  Mishnah 3
  
  The Temple Mount had five gates, which the mishnah now lists.
  There were five gates to the Temple Mount:  Huldah was a prophetess mentioned in II Kings 22:14, but there is she found in Jerusalem, not necessarily at these gates. Perhaps these were the gates where she sat, albeit in the First Temple. We should note that one can still see these southern gates at the southern walls of the Temple. This seems to be the most common entrance and exit.
  The two Huldah gates on the south were used both for entrance and exit;  We don’t really know who Kiponus was. It is possible that he was the man who donated the gate.
  The Kiponus gate on the west was used both for entrance and exit.  The Taddi gate on the north was rarely used. One exception will be brought at the end of this chapter. Again, Taddi seems possibly to have been the man who donated the gate.
  The Taddi gate on the north was not used at all.  Over the eastern gate was a drawing of Shushan, Persia. This was in commemoration of the place where the Jews were during the exile. It might have also served as a tribute to Cyrus who let the Jews leave Persia to return to Israel. To the east of the Temple lies the Mount of Olives, where the red heifer was burned. The high priest and the other priests involved in this ceremony would go through this gate on their way to the Mount of Olives to burn the red heifer.
  
  Mishnah 4
  
  There were seven gates in the courtyard: three in the north and three in the south and one in the east.In the south: the Gate of Kindling, and next to it the Gate of the First-borns, and then the Water Gate.In the east: the Gate of Nicanor. It had two chambers, one on its right and one on its left. One was the chamber of Pinchas the dresser and one the other the chamber of the griddle cake makers.Today’s mishnah lists the seven gates in the Temple courtyard.Section two: The Gate of Kindling was used to bring in the wood for the altar.Through the Gate of the First-borns they would bring in first-born animals on their way to being slaughtered. The Water Gate was used to bring in the water used on Sukkot for the water libation (it’s the most famous gate in history, but for other reasons).Section three: Mishnah Yoma 3:10, mentions Nicanor and the doors for his gate, which according to legend were brought miraculously from Egypt. This gate was on the eastern side of the courtyard. Within the gate itself there were two chambers. In one sat Pinchas who made the priestly clothing (see Shekalim 5:1) and in the other sat the priests who made the griddle cakes that the high priest would offer every day (see Tamid 1:3).
  
  Mishnah 5
  
  On the north was the Gate of the Sparks which was shaped like a portico.  On the north there was the Gate of the Sparks. There were pillars on both sides, which made it look like a portico.
  It had an upper chamber built on it, and the priests used to keep watch above and the Levites below, and it had a door opening into the Hel.  The Gate of the Sparks, unlike most gates, also had an upper chamber. The priests would stand on top and stand guard, as we learned in mishnah one. The Levites would stand below and guard (see also mishnah one). The Gate had a door that opened onto the Hel. The Hel was an area ten amot wide that went between the Soreg (a light fence) and the walls of the Courtyard. We will explain more about this later in 2:3.
  Next to it was the Gate of the Sacrifice and next to that the fire chamber.  To the east of the Gate of the Sparks was the Gate of the Sacrifice. Next to it was the fire chamber, mentioned above in mishnah one.
  
  Mishnah 6
  
  Introduction
  Our mishnah describes the fire chamber. This chamber is also described in Tamid 3:3. In the first mishnah of Middot (and Tamid) we learned that the fire chamber was called as such because it had a large fire which kept the priests warm at night. Today we learn that there were different rooms within the fire chamber, each of them serving a different purpose.
  There were four chambers inside the fire chamber, like sleeping chambers opening into a hall, two in sacred ground and two in non-holy, and there was a row of mosaic stones   separating the holy from the non-holy. For what were they used?  The chambers of the fire chamber were small rooms that opened into a larger hall. Two of them were inside the Temple on holy ground and two were outside the Temple.  The ones on the outside of the Temple were in the Hel [in Hebrew Hel and hol (non-holy) are almost the same]. There was a fence made of mosaic stones that would separate the chambers inside the Temple from those outside.
  The one on the southwest was the chamber of sacrificial lambs,  The chamber on the southwest was used to store lambs. This chamber was mentioned in Arakhin 2:5, “there were never less than six inspected lambs in the chamber of lambs.”
  The one on the southeast was the chamber of the showbread.  In the chamber on the southeast they would knead and bake the showbread.
  In the one to the northeast the Hasmoneans deposited the stones of the altar which the kings of Greece had defiled.  The northeastern chamber was used to store the stones from the altar that the Greeks had defiled by offering foreign sacrifices on it. According to I Maccabees 1:54 (a non-canonical book) when the Maccabees tore down the altar that had been defiled by the Greeks, they deposited the stones until a prophet would come along and tell them what to do with them (see 4: 43-46). In Tamid 3:3 this chamber is called “the chamber of seals.”
  Through the one on the northwest they used to go down to the bathing place.  In the floor of the northwestern chamber there was an opening through which the priests would go down to bathe. In Tamid this is called “the fire chamber” for it was in this chamber that they would keep the fire.
  
  Mishnah 7
  
  The fire chamber had two gates, one opening on to the Hel and one on to the courtyard. Rabbi Judah says: the one that opened on to the courtyard had a small opening through which they went in to search the courtyard.  On the northern side of the fire chamber there was a gate opening to the Hel, the corridor that ran outside the courtyard. On the southern side there was a gate opening into the courtyard.
  Every morning they would check the courtyard to make sure everything was in its proper place. This procedure was described in Tamid 1:3. The gate to the courtyard had a small opening through which they would enter the courtyard.
  
  Mishnah 8
  
  Introduction
  This mishnah appears word for word in Tamid 1:1. My explanation here is the same as there.
  The fire chamber was vaulted and it was a large room surrounded with stone projections, and the elders of the clan [serving in the Temple] used to sleep there, with the keys of the Temple courtyard in their hands.  The fire chamber was vaulted, and surrounded by rows of stones. On these rows of stones the priests serving in the Temple at the time (the Temple guard was split into 24 houses) would sleep, while holding the keys to the Temple courtyard.
  The young priests did not get to sleep on the rows of stones. They had to put their bedding down on the ground and sleep on the floor.
  
  Mishnah 9
  
  There was a place there [in the fire chamber] one cubit square on which was a slab of marble.In this was fixed a ring and a chain on which the keys were hung.When closing time came, the priest would raise the slab by the ring and take the keys from the chain.Then the priest would lock up within while the Levite was sleeping outside.When he had finished locking up, he would replace the keys on the chain and the slab in its place and put his garment on it and sleep there.If one of them had a seminal emission, he would go out by the winding stair which went under the Birah, and which was lighted with lamps on both sides, until he reached the bathing place.Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says: he descended by the winding stair which went under the Hel and he went out by the Taddi gate.Our mishnah deals with the locking of the Temple gates at night.Section four: There are two explanations for “the Levite was sleeping outside.” Either it means that the Levites sat outside the courtyard and guarded from the outside. Or this refers to the locking of the fire chamber. In the fire chamber the priests were inside and the Levites outside.Section six: Tamid 1:1 also discusses what would happen if a priest had an emission in the middle of the night and needed to purify himself. According to Deuteronomy 23:11 such a person must leave the “camp”, which the rabbis interpret to be parallel to the Temple. The priest would exit the Temple by using a set of underground stairs. It was forbidden for him to walk through the courtyard, or even on the Temple mount because he was impure. These stairs were lit so that he could see his way. He would then come to the ritual bath.Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says that when he was coming out of the ritual bath, he would not go back to the fire chamber. Rather he would go under the Hel and end up on the Temple Mount near the Taddi gate. Note that Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob does not disagree with the halakhah in our mishnah but rather with the halakhah in Tamid 1:1, according to which the priest the priest would return to the fire chamber.
  
  
  
  
  
  Mishnah 1
  
  Introduction
  Chapter two deals with the dimensions of the Temple Mount and its courtyards.
  The Temple Mount was five hundred cubits by five hundred cubits.  This accords with the dimensions stated in Ezekiel 42:20.
  The greater part of it was on the south; next to that on the east; next to that on the north; and the smallest part on the west.  The Temple was not centered in the middle of the Temple Mount. Rather it was to the northwestern side. Most of the empty ground was on the south. The second greatest empty area was on the east, then the north. The western side, or more accurately, the northwestern side, is where the Temple was located. As an aside, this is why the Western Wall is the closest of the walls to the actual Temple. Today if you go into the tunnels to the north of the western wall, you get as close as is possible to the Temple, without going onto the Temple Mount.
  The part which was most extensive was the part most used.  For non-priests, the most extensive use was in the south, where the largest empty area was located.
  
  Mishnah 2
  
  All who entered the Temple Mount entered by the right and went round [to the right] and went out by the left, save for one to whom something had happened, who entered and went round to the left.  Most people would enter the Temple Mount on the right side of the Southern Gates, and they would turn right and eventually come out on the left. The exception was one who was either a mourner or had been excommunicated. They would enter the same way, but they would go around to the left. This seems to have served as a means by which others could tell that something had happened to them and could offer them comfort.
  [He was asked]: “Why do you go round to the left?” [If he answered] “Because I am a mourner,” [they said to him], “May He who dwells in this house comfort you.”  When people would see others walking around to the left, they would know to ask them what had happened. If the person answered that he was a mourner, they would offer him comfort.
  [If he answered] “Because I am excommunicated” [they said]: “May He who dwells in this house inspire them to draw you near again,” the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yose to him: you make it seem as if they treated him unjustly. Rather [they should say]: “May He who dwells in this house inspire you to listen to the words of your colleagues so that they may draw you near again.”  Rabbi Yose and Rabbi Meir debate what words they would say to a mourner. According to Rabbi Meir they would offer hope that God would inspire the people who had excommunicated him to restore him to his status. Rabbi Yose complains that such a formulation gives the impression that those who had excommunicated him had done so unjustly. Instead, Rabbi Yose formulates words of consolation that place the blame on the excommunicated party, that he should mend his ways in order to be restored to his prior place.
  
  Mishnah 3
  
  Within it was the Soreg, ten handbreadths high.There were thirteen breaches in it, which had been originally made by the kings of Greece, and when they repaired them they enacted that thirteen prostrations should be made facing them.Within this was the Hel, which was ten cubits [broad].There were twelve steps there. The height of each step was half a cubit and its tread was half a cubit.All the steps in the Temple were half a cubit high with a tread of half a cubit, except those of the Porch.All the doorways in the Temple were twenty cubits high and ten cubits broad except those of the Porch.All the doorways there had doors in them except those of the Porch.All the gates there had lintels except that of Taddi which had two stones inclined to one another.All the original gates were changed for gates of gold except the gates of Nicanor, because a miracle happened with them. Some say: because their copper gleamed like gold.Section one: Around the Temple there was a small partition called the Soreg. This set the Temple off from the rest of the Temple Mount.Section two: The Greeks made thirteen breaches in the Soreg in order to demonstrate that Gentiles could enter the Hel, which was inside the Soreg. This tradition is also reflected in I Maccabees 9:54: “In the year one hundred and fifty-three, in the second month, Alcimus ordered the wall of the inner court of the porch to be torn down, thus destroying the work of the prophets.”When the Hasmoneans expelled the Greeks, they repaired the breaches and enacted that anytime a person would pass one of them, he would bow down and thank God for their victory over the Greeks.Section three: Within the Soreg was an area called the Hel. This was an empty area ten cubits (about five meters) wide.Section four: Leading up from the Hel to the Temple courtyard were twelve steps. Each step was half a cubit high and half a cubit long.Section five: The only steps in the Temple that did not have this dimension were those that led up from the courtyard of the priests to the Porch, whose length varied as we shall see in 3:6.Section six: The mishnah now proceeds to note several differences between the dimensions of the Porch and the dimensions found elsewhere in the Temple. The gates of the Porch were forty amot high and twenty amot wide.Section seven: The entrance to the Porch was set off with a curtain and not a door.Section nine: Originally the gates were made of copper. When the Jews had more money, they refurnished the Temple and covered them with gold. The only exception was the Nicanor gates, which were not changed. There are two possibilities for why they stayed the same. First of all, there was a miracle performed with them. This is explained in the Bavli (Yoma 38a) in the following way:  “What miracles happened to his doors? They say that when Nicanor had gone to bring doors from Alexandria of Egypt, on his return a storm arose in the sea to drown him. They took one of his doors and cast it into the sea and yet the sea would not stop its rage. They wanted to cast the other into the sea. He rose and clung to it, saying: ‘Cast me in with it!’ The sea immediately stopped its raging. He was deeply grieved about the other [door]. When he arrived at the harbor of Acco, it broke through and came up from under the sides of the boat.  Others say: A monster of the sea swallowed it and spat it out on the dry land.”The other explanation is that there was no need to replace the gates of Nicanor because their copper shined liked gold.
  
  Mishnah 4
  
  All the walls that were there [in the Temple] were high except the eastern wall, for the priest who burned the red heifer would stand on the top of the Mount of Olives and direct his gaze carefully see the opening of the Sanctuary at the time of the sprinkling of the blood. The red heifer was burned on the Mount of Olives, towards the east of the Temple Mount. The priest who burned it had to see the Sanctuary when he sprinkled the blood. This is how the rabbis interpret Numbers 19:4, “the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting.” Note that the priest would not have been able to see the Sanctuary through the Eastern gate because the floor of the Sanctuary was 22 amot higher than the floor of the Temple Mount, and the Eastern Gate was only 20 amot high. Thus the floor of the Sanctuary was higher than the gate, and therefore, the priest had to see over the wall. That is why they designed this wall to be shorter than the other walls.
  
  Mishnah 5
  
  The courtyard of the women was a hundred and thirty-five cubits long by a hundred and thirty-five wide.It had four chambers in its four corners, each of which was forty cubits.They were not roofed, and so they will be in the time to come, as it says, “Then he brought me forth into the outer court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court, and behold in every corner of the court there was a court. In the four corners of the court there were keturot courts” (Ezekiel 46:21-22) and keturot means that they were not roofed. For what were they used?The southeastern one was the chamber of the Nazirites where the Nazirites used to boil their shelamim and shave their hair and throw it under the pot.The northeastern one was the wood chamber where priests with physical defects used to pick out the wood which had worms, every piece with a worm in it being unfit for use on the altar.The northwestern one was the chamber of those with skin disease.The southwestern one: Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob said: I forget what it was used for. Abba Shaul says: they used to store there wine and oil, and it was called the chamber of oil.It [the courtyard of the women] had originally been smooth [without protrusions in the walls] but subsequently they surrounded it with a balcony so that the women could look on from above while the men were below, and they should not mix together.Fifteen steps led up from it to the courtyard of Israel, corresponding to the fifteen [songs of] ascents mentioned in the Book of Psalms, and upon which the Levites used to sing. They were not rectangular but circular like the half of a threshing floor.Today’s mishnah is about the courtyard of the women. This was the first courtyard which one would enter upon entering the Temple.I am not going to explain every section, just those that I feel are not self-explanatory.Section three: The rabbis read Ezekiel as a description of the future Temple that will be built in Messianic times. Nevertheless, the current Temple is to a certain extent patterned, at least in the rabbinic mind, after Ezekiel’s description. The word “keturot” in Ezekiel is unclear, but the rabbis interpret it to mean “unroofed.” Albeck notes that this is based on the Syriac phrased “Beta Ketira” which means “unroofed house.” Syriac is a Semitic language very close to Aramaic.Section four: The Nazirites would boil their shelamim, peace offering, and throw their shaven hair into the fire under the pot (see Numbers 6:18; Nazir 6:8).Section five: Priests with defects could not serve at the altar. Instead, they would sit in the chamber of wood and sort out which wood had worms, because wormed wood was not welcome on the altar.Section six: Those with skin disease would immerse themselves in the special chamber for those with skin disease.Section seven: The rabbis aren’t exactly sure what the southwestern chamber was even used for, at least not Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob. Abba Shaul claims that it was used to store wine and oil and it was called “the oil chamber.”Section eight: Originally the walls of the women’s courtyard were smooth, without any protrusions to uphold a balcony. However, when they saw that there was a problem with men and women mixing during the Simhat Bet Hashoevah, a raucous festival that occurred during Sukkot (see Sukkah 5:2), they made a balcony for women to be above. We should note that during the rest of the year men and women mingled together in the women’s courtyard. Only during the risky time of great celebration did they separate the genders. This balcony is an eventual, much later source for women sitting in the balcony at synagogues, but in the Temple it was only used on one special occasion.Section nine: Leading up from the courtyard of the women there were fifteen steps, going through the Nicanor gates and into the courtyard of the Israelites. These fifteen steps corresponded to the fifteen “songs of ascent” in Psalms 120-134. Upon them the Levites would sing during the Simhet Bet Hashoevah. The steps were shaped in semi-circles, and not rectangles as were other steps found in the Temple.
  
  Mishnah 6
  
  Introduction
  Our mishnah is mostly about the Court of Israel, which was a smaller court leading from the Court of Women to the Court of the Priests.
  There were chambers underneath the Court of Israel which opened into the Court of Women, where the Levites used to keep lyres and lutes and cymbals and all kinds of musical instruments.  Underneath the Court of Israel there were chambers where the Levites would deposit their instruments.
  The Court of Israel was a hundred and thirty-five cubits in length by eleven in breadth. Similarly the Court of the Priests was a hundred and thirty-five cubits in length by eleven in breadth.  Both of these courtyards were the same breadth as the Court of Women, but they were much shorter, extending only eleven cubits. In a sense they were just strips.
  And a row of mosaic stones separated the Court of Israel from the Court of the Priests.  There was a partition separating the Court of Israel from the Court of Priests, for Israelites would not typically go into the Court of Priests. They would enter only when they were going to either slaughter a sacrifice or lay their hands upon it, or wave it.
  Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says: there was a step a cubit high on which a platform was placed, and it had three steps each of half a cubit in height. In this way the Court of the Priests was made two and a half cubits higher than that of Israel.  According to Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob, there was a step with a platform on it between the two courts. On this platform the Levites would stand and sing when the tamid sacrifice was being offered (see Tamid 7:3). The Court of Priests was thus slightly higher than the Court of Israel.
  The whole of the Court was a hundred and eighty-seven cubits in length by a hundred and thirty-five in breadth.  The entire Courtyard in which the Temple was located was 187 cubits long. This included the entire area of the Court of Priests, and then the area of the Temple, all the way past the Holy of Holies and to the western side of the Temple.
  And thirteen prostrations were made there.  There were thirteen places to prostrate, as we learned in mishnah three. According to this opinion, the thirteen places of prostration were at the places where the Soreg had been broken through by the Greeks.
  Abba Yose ben Hanan says: they were made facing the thirteen gates. On the south beginning from the west there were the upper gate (1), the gate of burning (2), the gate of the firstborn (3), and the water gate (4). And why was it called the water gate? Because they brought in through it the pitcher of water for libation on the festival. Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says: in it the water welled up, and in the time to come from there it will come out from under the threshold of the Temple. Corresponding to them in the north beginning in the west were the gate of Yehoniah (5), the gate of the offering (6), the women's gate (7), the gate of song (8). Why was it called the gate of Yehoniah? Because Yehoniah went forth into captivity through it. On the east was the gate of Nicanor (9); it had two doors, one on its right and one on its left (10 + 11). There were further two gates in the west which had no special name (12 + 13).  Abba Yose ben Hanan disagrees with the anonymous mishnah found in 1:4-5, who held that there were seven gates around the Temple Court. Abba Yose ben Hanan says that there were thirteen, and at each they would prostrate. He now lists these gates. Some of them are repeats of those listed above. The upper gate: Was called “upper” because it was at the highest point on the Temple Mount. The gate of the first-borns: Through which they would bring the first-born animals to be slaughtered, for they can be slaughtered on the south. The water gate: The mishnah gives two reasons why it was called the water gate. The first is practical through this gate the water was brought in for the water libation on Sukkot. The second is more messianic: Ezekiel 47:1-2 prophesies that in the time of redemption water will burst forth from the Temple. This water will come forth from this gate. Yehoniah’s gate: Yehoniah, as will be explained later in the mishnah, is the king who was exiled to Babylonia in II Kings 24:15. He went out, according to legend, through this gate. Commentators say that this is the same gate that is called “the gate of kindling” in 1:4. The gate of the offering: Through here they would bring in any sacrifice that needed to be slaughtered on the north side. The gate of women: Women who needed/wanted to lay their hands on their sacrifices could go in through this gate. The gate of song: Through which the Levites would bring in their musical instruments. Commentators identify this gate with the gate of the sparks in 1:5. Nicanor’s gate: As we have already learned, this gate was named after Nicanor who brought the gates from Egypt. On each side of the gate was a small door, and these doors were included in the overall count. Thus Nicanor’s gate gets credit for being three gates. The no-name gates: These gates were behind the Temple and were rarely used and therefore had no names.
  
  
  
  
  
  Mishnah 1
  
  Introduction
  Chapter three begins with several mishnayot describing the outer altar, upon which the sacrifices were burned.
  The altar was thirty-two cubits by thirty-two.  The mishnah begins to describe the altar from the very bottom. This area was 32 by 32 cubits.
  It rose a cubit and went in a cubit, and this formed the foundation, leaving thirty cubits by thirty.  The foundation of the altar was an amah in length and ran the entire length on the north and west but not the south and the east. On the southwestern corner and northeastern corner it took up one amah, but did not run the whole length (this will be explained in section nine). The remaining square of the altar was 30 x 30 amot.
  It then rose five cubits and went in one cubit, and this formed the surround, leaving twenty-eight cubits by twenty-eight.  On top of the foundation lies the surround (sovev). The sovev was five amot above the altar, and it was an amah in breadth. This left the altar with 28 x 28 amot.
  The horns extended a cubit in each direction, thus leaving twenty-six by twenty-six.  The four corners/horns (same word in Hebrew) of the altar each took up an amah in each direction, leaving the altar with 26 x 26 amot.
  A cubit on every side was allowed for the priests to go round, thus leaving twenty-four by twenty-four as the place for the wood pile [for the altar fire].  Along the sides there was an amah walkway left empty so that the priests could walk around the altar. This walkway was inside the area devoted to the horns. Thus, the final measurement of the altar is 24 x 24. It was on this space that they would set the wood for the fire.
  Rabbi Yose said: Originally, the complete area [occupied by the altar] was only twenty-eight cubits by twenty-eight, and it rose with the dimensions mentioned until the space left for the altar pile was only twenty by twenty. When, however, the children of the exile returned, they added four cubits on the north, and four on the west like a gamma, since it is said: “Now the hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve broad, square” (Ezekiel 43:16). Is it possible that it was only twelve cubits by twelve? When it says, “With four equal sides” (, this shows that he was measuring from the middle, twelve cubits in every direction.  According to Rabbi Yose, the bottom square of the original altar was 28 x 28, leaving 20 x 20 for burning the wood, after room was left for the foundation, sovev, horns and walkway. This accords with the size of the altar built by Solomon according to II Chronicles 4:1. However, when the Israelites returned from the Babylonian exile, they built the altar larger than it was before. They added four amot to two sides of the altar, forming the shape of the Greek letter Gamma, which made the usable space of the altar 24 x 24. This number is derived from an interpretation of Ezekiel 43:16, according to which the altar was 12 x 12 amot. This number strikes Rabbi Yose as being impossibly small, probably because that would make it smaller than the altar of Solomon. Therefore, he posits that the measurements were taken from the center of the altar, and that 12 amot extended in each direction, leaving a space of 24 x 24.
  A line of red paint ran round it in the middle to divide between the upper and the lower blood.  Some sacrifices had their blood spilt on the upper side of the altar, above the red paint (the animal hatat and bird olot) while the rest had their blood spilt on the lower side of the altar.
  The foundation ran the whole length of the north and of the west sides, and it took up one cubit on the south and one on the east.  This was explained above in section two.
  
  Mishnah 2
  
  At the southwestern corner [of the foundation] there were two openings like two small nostrils through which the blood which was poured on the western side of the foundation and on the southern side flowed down till the two streams became mingled in the channel,   through which they made their way out to the Kidron wadi. The blood of all sacrifices was either drained on the western side of the foundation (see Zevahim 5:1-2) or on the southern side (Zevahim 5:3). The blood would drain out through two holes shaped like nostrils, and then flow down to the channel that flowed through the Temple Courtyard. From there the blood would be flushed out to the Kidron wadi that flows below the Temple Mount.
  
  Mishnah 3
  
  On the floor beneath at that corner there was a place a cubit square on which was a marble slab with a ring fixed in it, and through this they used to go down to the pit to clean it out.  The blood and refuse would flow down to the pit (called in Hebrew the “shit” wonder if that’s coincidental?). There was a trap door that would lead down to the pit and the priests would periodically clean it out of congealed blood so that it wouldn’t get clogged. That might not have been a job that they had to fight to get.
  There was an ascent on the south side of the altar, thirty-two cubits [long] by sixteen broad.  The ascent was the ramp that the priests used to go up to the altar. It was long and quite broad.
  It had a square window in its western side where disqualified sin-offerings of birds were placed.  Sin-offerings of birds had to be left somewhere until they would begin to rot. Then they could be burned outside the Temple. To this end the birds were left in a small window/cavity cut out of the ascent.
  
  Mishnah 4
  
  Introduction
  Our mishnah deals with the stones used for the altar. Deuteronomy 27:5-6 states: “You should build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not wield an iron tool over them; you must build the altar of the Lord your God of unhewn stones.” These two verses and their fulfillment are the main topic of this mishnah.
  The stones both of the ascent and of the altar were taken from the valley of Bet Kerem.  Bet Kerem is close to Jerusalem (today it is a neighborhood in Jerusalem).
  They dug into virgin soil and brought from there whole stones on which no iron had been lifted, since iron disqualifies by mere touch, though a flaw made by anything could disqualify. If one of them received a flaw, it was disqualified, but the rest were not.  The quarrying would begin in soil that had not been used. They would extract whole stones without using any iron tools. Any stone which had been touched by an iron tool is disqualified. If it was flawed by a different type of tool it is also disqualified, but other types of metal do not disqualify by mere touch. If one of the stones that were already in use received a flaw, it is disqualified but the other stones are still valid. They will have to replace the flawed stone.
  They were whitewashed twice a year, once at Pesah and once at Hag, and the Sanctuary was whitewashed once a year, at Pesah. Rabbi says: they were whitewashed every Friday with a cloth on account of the blood stains.  The stones of the altar were whitewashed with plaster twice a year, once on Pesah (their Pesah cleaning) and once on Sukkot. The mishnah seems to say that they whitewashed the Sanctuary with plaster once a year. However, this cannot be the intention of the mishnah because the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies were both covered with gold. Therefore, Albeck explains that this refers to the porch (the Ulam) that comes before the Sanctuary. Another explanation is that the word “Sanctuary” here actually refers to the whole Temple, including the courtyards. Rabbi [Judah Hanasi] holds that they would clean the altar once a week because of the blood stains. But they would only do so with a simple cloth.
  The plaster was not laid on with an iron trowel, for fear that it might touch and disqualify.  When they put on the plaster, they did not use an iron trowel for fear that would disqualify the stones.
  Since iron was created to shorten man's days and the altar was created to prolong man's days, and it is not right therefore that that which shortens should be lifted against that which prolongs.  This section explains why iron disqualifies the stones of the altar. It is a nice midrash the material that is used to destroy life should be kept away from the altar, whose ultimate purpose is to provide and lengthen life.
  
  Mishnah 5
  
  There were rings to the north of the altar, six rows of four each. And some say, four rows of six each. Upon them they used to slaughter the sacrificial animals.The slaughter house was to the north of the altar, and on it were eight small pillars on top of which were blocks of cedar wood, in which were fixed hooks of iron, three rows in each, upon which they would hang [the sacrifice] and they would strip its hide on tables of marble that stood between the pillars. Section one: There were twenty-four rings on the north side of the altar, either in six rows of four, or four rows of six. They would put the animal’s head in the ring to slaughter it. Section two: The mishnah describes the slaughterhouse, especially the hooks on which they would hang the meat after the sacrifice was slaughtered. It is also describes the tables upon which the meat would be washed.This mishnah describes the set-up used to slaughter the sacrifices. Some of this mishnah was also found in Tamid 3:5 (coincidental, I think, that the number of the mishnah is the same).
  
  Mishnah 6
  
  Introduction
  The Mishnah continues to move in its description from the less holy places to the direction of the Sanctuary and the holiest places. Today we move from the outer altar to the Sanctuary.
  The laver was between the porch and the altar, a little to the south.  The laver where the priests would wash their hands and feet was found between the porch and the altar (to the west of the altar), and a little bit south.
  Between the porch and the altar there were twenty-two cubits.  Between the altar and the porch there were twenty-two cubits, which were taken up by steps. Each step was half a cubit above the previous step. The breadth of each step was a cubit, but some steps had some extra floor space in between them.
  There were twelve steps there, each step being half a cubit high and a cubit broad. There was a cubit, a cubit and a level space of three cubits, then a cubit, a cubit and a level space of three cubits, then at the top a cubit, a cubit and a level space of four cubits.  The first two steps were a cubit broad, and then there was a level space of three cubits before the next step began. This set-up occurred three times for a total of nine steps, and fifteen cubits. The final set had a level space of four cubits, bringing the total to twenty-one cubits. In addition there was another cubit between the altar and the first step, for a total of 22 cubits between the altar and the Sanctuary.
  Rabbi Judah says that at the top there was a cubit, a cubit and a level space of five cubits.  Rabbi Judah holds that the extra cubit was in the level space after the last step. There was no space of a cubit between the altar and the first step.
  
  Mishnah 7
  
  Introduction
  Today’s mishnah deals with the doorway that opened onto the Porch (Oolam in Hebrew).
  The doorway of the porch was forty cubits high and its breadth was twenty cubits.  As we noted above in 2:3, the doorway to the Porch was larger than all of the other doorways in the Temple. It was forty cubits high, whereas all other doorways were twenty cubits high.
  Over it were five main beams of ash [wood]. The lowest projected a cubit on each side beyond the doorway. The one above projected beyond this one a cubit on each side. Thus the topmost one was thirty cubits long.  The lowest beam that went over the doorway would have been 22 cubits in breadth. The next was 24, the third was 26, the fourth was 28 and the fifth was thirty cubits long.
  There was a layer of stones between each one and the next.  Between each beam there was a layer of stones.
  
  Mishnah 8
  
  There were poles of cedar wood stretching from the wall of the Sanctuary to the wall of the Porch to prevent it from bulging. There were chains of gold fixed in the roof beams of the Porch by which the priestly initiates used to ascend and see the crowns, as it says, “And the crowns shall be to Helem and to Toviyah and to Yedaya and to Hen the son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the Temple of the Lord” (Zechariah 6:14). A golden vine stood at the door of the Sanctuary trained on poles, and anyone who offered a leaf or a grape or a bunch used to bring it and hang it there. Rabbi Eliezer bar Zadok said: on one occasion three hundred priests were commissioned [to clear it].
  
  
  
  
  
  Mishnah 1
  
  The doorway of the Hekhal was twenty cubits high and ten broad.It had four doors, two on the inner side, and two on the outer, as it says, “And the Hekhal and the Sanctuary had two doors” (Ezekiel 41:23).The outer ones opened into the interior of the doorway so as to cover the thickness of the wall, while the inner ones opened into the Temple so as to cover the space behind the doors, because the whole of the Temple was overlaid with gold except the space behind the doors.Rabbi Judah says: they stood within the doorway, and they resembled folding doors. These were two cubits and a half [of the wall] and these were two cubits and a half, leaving half a cubit as a doorpost at the one end and half a cubit as a doorpost at the other end, as it says, “And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves, two leaves for the one door and two leaves for the other” (Ezekiel 41:2.Chapter four deals with the Sanctuary or Hekhal in Hebrew. I will call it the Hekhal henceforth in order to encourage the use of Hebrew. The Hekhal was the main structure of the Temple and it stood between the Porch and the Holy of Holies.Section two: The Hekhal had four doors. Two doors were in the thickness of the wall of the Hekhal, which ran the length of the opening, facing the Hekhal, one on the left and one on the right. Two others were on the other side, facing the Porch.Section three: The wall of the Hekhal was six cubits in breadth. The doors were each five cubits long, so that when they opened they would cover five of the six cubits of the thickness of the wall. The extra cubit was taken up by the door post. The inner ones opened into the Hekhal, and when opened they would cover the part of the inside of the Hekhal that was not overlaid with gold. The doors were also covered with gold, so that when they were open only gold would be seen.Section four: Rabbi Judah envisions a different set-up for the doors. Each door was like a folding door and they stood within the doorway and all of them were used to cover the thickness of the wall, each covering 2 ½ cubits of the wall. In other words, the doors did not open into the Hekhal. Rabbi Judah seems to interpret “two turning leaves” as proof that each door was a type of folding door. It is interesting to note that there may be a bit of tension here between the first opinion and Rabbi Judah as to how we know what occurred in the Temple. The first opinion may be based more on tradition or even recollections whereas Rabbi Judah’s opinion is based on more on the text found in Ezekiel.
  
  Mishnah 2
  
  The great gate had two small doors, one to the north and one to the south. By the one to the south no one ever went in, and concerning it was stated explicitly be Ezekiel, as it says, “And the Lord said to me: this gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, neither shall any man enter in by it, for the Lord God of Israel has entered in by it; therefore it shall be shut” (Ezekiel 44:2).  The great gate of the Hekhal had two small doors, one to the north (to the right when facing the Hekhal) and one to the south. However, the southern door was never used, due to a direct order by God.
  He [the priest] took the key and opened the [northern] door and went in to the cell, and from the cell he went into the Hekhal.  When the priest wanted to open the great gate, he would take the keys to the gates, go into the cell, which was a chamber next to the gate, and then go into the Hekhal and open from the inside.
  Rabbi Judah says: he used to walk along in the thickness of the wall until he came to the space between the two gates. He would open the outer doors from within and the inner doors from without.  Rabbi Judah says that the priest would not enter the cell but would rather walk along inside the wall which was six cubits thick. He would then open the outer doors from within, turn around and open the inner doors from without.
  
  Mishnah 3
  
  There were thirty-eight cells there, fifteen on the north, fifteen on the south, and eight on the west.  Around the walls of the Hekhal and the Holy of Holies there were 38 cells or small chambers.
  On the north and on the south there were five over five and five again over these; On the west there were three over three and two over these.  These chambers were built in three stories. On the northern and southern sides there were five on each story, and on the west there were three on the first two stories and two on the top story.
  Each had three openings, one to the cell on the right and one to the cell on the left and one to the cell above.  Each cell had three openings, one which would open to the cell on the right, one which would open to the cell on the left, and one which would open to the cell above. However, the top row of cells had only two openings.
  In the [one at the] northeastern corner there were five openings, one to the cell on the right, one to the cell above, one to the mesibbah, one to the door, and one to the Hekhal.  The cell at the northeastern corner had five openings. One to the cell on the right and one above (there was no cell to its left, because there were no cells on the east). One to the mesibbah, which was a ramp that would go up from the west to the east to the roofs of the cells and the upper level of the Sanctuary. We will learn more about the mesibbah in mishnah five. The fourth opening led to the door on the northern side of the great gate at the entrance to the Hekhal. The fifth door led straight to the Hekhal. This accords with what we learned in yesterday's mishnah, according to the opinion of the sages (and not Rabbi Judah).
  
  Mishnah 4
  
  The [chamber] of the lowest [story] was five cubits wide and at the ceiling six cubits.  The mishnah's explanation of the size of the cells is based on I Kings 6:6. The bottom story's cells were each five cubits in breadth. In the walls of the Hekhal they would reduce the thickness of the wall by a cubit at this point so that the ceiling of the cell could rest on the point where the wall was brought in. This is also referred to in the continuation of the above verse from I Kings. This would mean that at the point of the ceiling the cell was one cubit broader.
  The [chamber] of the middle [story] was six cubits wide and at the ceiling of seven.  The second story was one cubit broader, matching the breadth of the ceiling of the first story. Again, the wall was brought in to accommodate the planks for the ceiling of the cell. This would make it seven cubits at the point of the ceiling.
  The [chamber] of the top [story] was seven cubits wide, as it says, "The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle one 6 cubits wide and the third 7 cubits wide" (I Kings 6:6).  Similarly, the third story was the breadth of the ceiling of the second story. As stated above, this matches the verse in I Kings that describes Solomon's Temple. We should emphasize that this is another example where either the Second Temple was patterned after the First Temple, or the rabbis at least imagined that it was.
  
  Mishnah 5
  
  The mesibbah (a winding went up from the north-east corner to the north-west corner by which they used to go up to the roofs of the cells.One would ascend the messibah facing the west, traversing the whole of the northern side till he reached the west.When he reached the west he turned to face south and then traversed whole of the west side till he reached the south.When he reached the south he turned to face eastwards and then traversed the south side till he reached the door of the upper chamber, since the door of the upper chamber opened to the south.In the doorway of the upper chamber were two columns of cedar by which they used to climb up to the roof of the upper chamber, and at the top of them was a row of stones showing the division in the upper chamber between the holy part and the Holy of Holies.There were trap doors in the upper chamber opening into the Holy of Holies by which the workmen were let down in baskets so that they should not feast their eyes on the Holy of Holies.Sections 1-4: The mesibbah was the walkway that they would use to get to the top of the Hekhal. The mishnah explains how the priest would walk on the mesibbah which began on the northeastern side (as we learned in mishnah three) and went to the northwestern side. He would then turn south (left) and walk to the end, then he would walk all the way to the southeastern cornet to get to the upper chamber that was built on top of the Hekhal and the Holy of Holies. The door of this chamber was open on the southern wall.Section five: There were poles in the upper chamber which they could use to climb up to the roof. On the roof there was a division made by a wall of stones to distinguish between the Hekhal (the holy) and the Holy of Holies.Section six: There were trap doors in the roof of the Holy of Holies through which they would let workmen down in baskets to fix the walls of the Hekhal and Holy of Holies when necessary. The workmen were let down in baskets that were covered on three sides so that all they could see was the wall that they were repairing. This would prevent them from unabashedly gazing at the Holy of Holies which would be considered an inappropriate means of deriving benefit from the holiest point of the Temple.
  
  Mishnah 6
  
  The Hekhal was a hundred cubits by a hundred with a height of a hundred.  The Hekhal as referred to in this mishnah includes the dimensions of the Porch, the Hekhal and the Holy of Holies put together.  It was a 100 cubit cube.
  The foundation was six cubits, then it rose forty, then a cubit for the ornamentation, two cubits for the guttering, a cubit for the ceiling and a cubit for the plastering.  The mishnah now explains the elements that lead to a height of 100 cubits (note: this is a very tall structure). The closed foundation of the entire structure was 6 cubits high. We can also see this by the need for 12 stairs to lead up from the courtyard to the floor of the Porch. Each stair was 1/2 cubit high, making a total of 6 cubits. The empty space inside the Hekhal was 40 cubits high. Before the ceiling there was a cubit of ornamentation on the walls. Then there were two cubits of guttering to catch water that might leak in from the roof. The ceiling (the boards) and the plastering were each a cubit. This would bring us to a total of 51 cubits.
  The height of the upper chamber was forty cubits, there was a cubit for its ornamentation, two cubits for the guttering, a cubit for the ceiling, a cubit for the plastering, three cubits for the parapet and a cubit for the spikes.  The upper chamber was also forty cubits high, then another cubit for ornamentation, two for guttering, and one each for the ceiling and its plastering. This brings us to 96 total cubits. There was a parapet (a railing) on top of the upper chamber and there were one cubit spikes coming out of the parapet. This would chase away birds which would have nested on the tops of the walls. [Funny, but we too put spikes on top of our walls to keep away the bird].
  Rabbi Judah says the spikes were not included in the measurement, but the parapet was four cubits.  Rabbi Judah disagrees with two minor details of the above description. He claims that the spikes were not counted in the total, and that the number 100 was reached by the parapet being four not three cubits high.
  
  Mishnah 7
  
  From east to west was a hundred cubits: The wall of the porch five cubits, the porch itself eleven, the wall of the Hekhal six cubits and its interior forty, a cubit for the space between, and twenty cubits for the Holy of Holies, the wall of the Hekhal six cubits, the cell six cubits and the wall of the cell five.  The mishnah now proceeds to delineate the structures, walls, etc. that took up the length and breadth of the Hekhal. The Hekhal was one hundred cubits from its eastern side to its western side. The thickness of the front wall of the Porch was five cubits. The area of the Porch was eleven cubits, and the wall separating the Porch from the Hekhal was six more. This brings us to 22. The interior of the Hekhal was 40 (total = 62). There was a one cubit space between the Hekhal and the Holy of Holies. In the First Temple there was an actual wall in this space, but in the Second Temple there were two curtains a cubit apart from one another. The interior of the Holy of Holies was 20 cubits (total = 83). The western wall of the Hekhal was six more cubits. The width of the middle cells on the western side was six cubits, and the western wall of the cell was another five, bringing us to the grand total of 100 cubits.
  From north to south was seventy cubits: The wall of the mesibbah five cubits, the mesibbah itself three, the wall of the cell five and the cell itself six, the wall of the Hekhal six cubits and its interior twenty, then the wall of the Hekhal again six and the cell six and its wall five, then the place of the water descent three cubits and its wall five cubits.  From north to south the entire expanse was seventy cubits. The thickness of the walls of the mesibbah was 5 cubits (concerning the mesibbah see mishnah five). The width of the mesibbah itself was three cubits. Inside the mesibbah was the cell, whose wall was five. The middle level cell itself was six cubits wide (total = 19). The wall separating the cell from the Hekhal was another six, and the width of the Hekhal was twenty (total=45). The opposite wall was also six and the cell on the south side was another six, and its wall was another five (total = 62). There was a space of three cubits between the wall of the cell and the outer wall in order to let water flow down from the roof. This was another three cubits and then another five cubits of wall, bringing us to a total of 70 cubits. It might be interesting to note that of the seventy cubits, 32 of them were taken up by wall. The walls were plentiful and very thick.
  The Porch extended beyond this fifteen cubits on the north and fifteen cubits on the south, and this space was called the House of the slaughter-knives where they used to store the knives.  The Porch, the structure that lay in front of the Hekhal, was fifteen cubits longer from north to south then the Hekhal on each side. This would mean that the back wall to the Porch, which serves as the front wall of the Hekhal, would have been 100 cubits, whereas the rest of the Hekhal was seventy cubits from north to south. This extra space was where the slaughterer's knives were stored. Perhaps we could surmise that they stored the knives here in order to keep them from being parallel to the altar or Holy of Holies, such that an instrument of violence, while necessary for the daily operation of the Temple, was at least not stored in a space parallel to the life-giving altar.
  The Hekhal was narrow behind and broad in front, resembling a lion, as it says, "Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped" (Isaiah 29:1): Just as a lion is narrow behind and broad in front, so the Hekhal was narrow behind and broad in front.  The final section of the mishnah and our chapter likens the entire structure of the Porch, Hekhal and Holy of Holies to a lion. It was broad in front (100 cubits) and a bit narrower in the back (70 cubits). The imagery is based on the verse which refers to Jerusalem as "Ariel" which means "lion of God."
  
  
  
  
  
  Mishnah 1
  
  Introduction
  Chapter five backs away from the Hekhal and describes the courtyard that lay to the east of the Temple.
  If we think about Tractate Middot as a whole we can see that the first two chapters brought us on to the Temple Mount and into the outer courtyards, the fourth chapter discussed the Hekhal and the fifth chapter went back to the courtyard. At the heart of the tractate, in chapter three, is the description of the outer altar, certainly the most important piece of the Temple on an everyday basis. In my opinion, the literary structure of this tractate is clearly intentional.
  The whole of the courtyard was a hundred and eighty-seven cubits long by a hundred and thirty-five broad.  The 187 cubits is measured from the Israelite's courtyard (the Nicanor Gate) to the outer walls of the Temple. It does not include the Women's courtyard.
  From east to west it was a hundred and eighty-seven. The space in which the Israelites could go was eleven cubits. The space in which the priests could go was eleven cubits. The altar took up thirty-two. Between the Porch and the altar was twenty-two cubits. The Hekhal took up a hundred cubits, and there were eleven cubits behind the kapporet.  The Israelites' courtyard was eleven cubits wide, as was the priests' courtyard. Immediately after the priests' courtyard began the outer altar, which was thirty-two cubits broad (see 3:1). There were twenty-two cubits between the outer altar and the beginning of the Porch (see 3:6). This brings us to a total of 76 cubits. The Hekhal was 100 cubits from east to west (see 4:7). On the other side of the Holy of Holies, which held the kapporet, from the western wall of the Hekhal to the western wall of the Temple, there were another 11 cubits, bringing us to a grand total of 187 cubits.
  
  Mishnah 2
  
  Introduction
  Our mishnah explains the structures that took up the space going from north to south in the courtyard.
  From north to south was a hundred and thirty-five cubits.The ascent and the altar took up sixty-two;  Although the ascent was 32 cubits long and the altar was also thirty-two cubits long, together they took up only 62 cubits of floor space. There are some complicated equations to work this out, which I do not want to get into here. Suffice it to say, that Albeck concludes that the ascent did not reach the altar itself, but stopped about a cubit away and that the top of the ascent did not go all the way up to the altar.
  From the altar to the rings was eight cubits.  The rings were described in 3:5. They were eight cubits north of the altar (total 70).
  The rings took up twenty-four cubits.  The rings took up twenty-four cubits (total: 94).
  From the rings to the tables was four cubits,  See also 3:5. These were four cubits away.
  From the tables to the dwarf pillars four,  See also 3:5. These pillars were used to hang the sacrifices and strip their hides. The mishnah does not tell us how much space the tables took up. The Rambam writes that the tables took up eight cubits. Based on this, other commentators claim that the tables took up the space between the rings and the dwarf pillars.
  And from the dwarf pillars to the wall of the courtyard eight cubits,  From the dwarf pillars to the outer wall was another 8 cubits, bringing the total to 110.
  And the remainder was between the ascent and the wall  and the space occupied by the dwarf pillars.  The remaining 25 cubits was taken up by the space on the southern side between the ascent and the southern wall and the space of the dwarf pillars themselves. According to the Rambam, each took up 12 1/2 cubits.
  
  Mishnah 3
  
  There were six chambers in the courtyard, three on the north and three on the south.On the north were the salt chamber, the parvah chamber and the washer's chamber.In the salt chamber they used to keep the salt for the offerings.In the parvah chamber they used to salt the skins of the animal-offerings.On its roof was the bath used by the high priest on Yom Kippur.In the washers’ chamber they used to wash the entrails of the sacrificial animals, and from it a winding way went up to the roof of the parvah chamber.Our mishnah that were in the Israelites' courtyard or within. Most of the mishnah is self-explanatory, but I have made a few comments below.Section two: These three chambers were close to one another, on the northeastern corner of the Israelites' courtyard. There are two explanations as to why it was called the "parvah chamber." The first is that the person who dedicated it was named "Parvah" either as a first or last name. The second is that the word "parvah" is after the "parot" or cows, whose hides were treated their. In modern Hebrew the word "parvah" means fur, but cows, sheep and goats don't really have fur.Section five: The high priest would immerse five times on Yom Kippur, all within the Temple confines. See Yoma 3:3. Here we learn that these immersions were done on the roof of the parvah chamber.Section six: In this chamber they would wash out the animal's stomach. The intestines were washed on the tables near the dwarf pillars, as we learned in Tamid 4:3.
  
  Mishnah 4
  
  On the south were the wood chamber, the chamber of the exile and the chamber of hewn stones.The wood chamber: Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says: I forget what it was used for. Abba Shaul says: It was the chamber of the high priest, and it was behind the two of them, and one roof covered all three.In the chamber of the exile there was a fixed cistern, with a wheel over it, and from there water was provided for all of the courtyard.In the chamber of hewn stone the great Sanhedrin of Israel used to sit and judge the priesthood.A priest in whom was found a disqualification used to put on black garments and wrap himself in black and go away. One in whom no disqualification was found used to put on white garments and wrap himself in white and go in and serve along with his brother priests.They used to make a feast because no blemish had been found in the seed of Aaron the priest, and they used to say: Blessed is the Omnipresent, blessed is He, for no blemish has been found in the seed of Aaron. Blessed is He who chose Aaron and his sons to stand to minister before the Lord in the Holy of Holies.The final mishnah of our tractate describes the three chambers that were found on the southern side of the courtyard.Section two: We should note that this is the second time in our tractate that Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob did not know what a chamber was used for and Abba Shaul did. See also 2:5. According to the Abba Shaul, the chamber of wood was the chamber of the high priest, which the Talmud identifies with the chamber mentioned in the beginning of Yoma. There it is called "the chamber of parhedrin" and in it the high priest would dwell for the seven days before Yom Kippur.Section three: This cistern was also mentioned in Eruvin 10:14. Some commentators explain that it was called the "chamber of the exile" because it was built by Jews who had returned from the exile. Others explain that the word "golah" which I have translated to be "exile" should be read "gulah" which refers to a large container attached to the wheel which was used to draw water.Section four: In the chamber of hewn stone, the great Sanhedrin of 70 judges would sit and one of their responsibilities was to decide which priests were fit to serve in the Temple [see also Sanhedrin, chapter one]. [We should note that there is something to be said about rabbis claiming that they determined which priests were fit to serve in the Temple. One wonders whether the priests would have agreed that this was the way things were done].Section five: A priest who was disqualified from serving in the Temple, either due to a physical blemish or perhaps a genealogical flaw, would dress in black and leave.One who was found valid to serve, would don his white priestly clothing and head off to join his fellow priests.Section five: On a day that no priests were invalidated, the priests would make a celebration and offer up a special blessing. The impression one gets is that this was not the norm most of time at least one priest was found to be disqualified.Congratulations!  We have finished Tractate Middot!It is a tradition at this point to thank God for helping us finish learning the tractate and to commit ourselves to going back and relearning it, so that we may not forget it and so that its lessons will stay with us for all of our lives.Middot was an unusual tractate, much as was Tamid. Instead of the usual argumentation, we get a long physical description of the Temple. We should appreciate that although the rabbis were primarily attached to the words of the Torah, both the written and the oral Torah, they were drawn to the physical stones of the Temple, although they could no longer worship there. Perhaps we could even look at Middot as a way of bringing those stones into their own world of words.This is not the place to discuss rabbinic thought on the complicated subject of animal sacrifice, but we should note that on at least one occasion in the tractate the rabbis did reveal their understanding of this subject. The altar gives life, both to Israel and perhaps to the entire world. By bringing us closer to God and maintaining our relationship with the eternal forces that rule the universe, the altar and the Temple which surround it, seem to tap into such a primal power and bring life to the worshipper's fragile human existence.I hope you have enjoyed Arakhin. Tomorrow we begin Tractate Kinim.