Kaisipang Hudyo sa Ezekiel 41:11: The Third Beit HaMikdash

Rashi also writes regarding the phrase, “an [open space] that was left”: There was an open space left at the southeast corner and at the northeast corner, for the side-chambers would not surround the entire House. The entrances to the side-chambers were in those empty spaces in the eastern corner, as it is written: “The entrance to the side-chamber was from the munach. There was one entrance on the north and one on the south.” For the side-chambers did not have entrances to either the Courtyard or to the Sanctuary. Only those in the northeast and southeast corner had an entrance in the wall. They opened up to this empty space and [the kohanim] would enter this side-chamber through this entrance. From this side-chamber, they would enter the second one, and the third, surrounding [the Sanctuary]. Thus, the mishnah teaches in Tractate Middos: “Each of the cells had three openings: one to the cell on the right, one to the cell on the left, and one to the cell above it. Similarly, the Targum Yonason renders the words וַאֲשֶׁר מֻנָּח, “a place was left.”

In the edifice that was 90 cubits long, the 5 cubits at the end closest to Beis HaChalifos were left empty. There was space between the side-chambers and Beis HaChalifos, to which the cells opened. This space is alluded to by the phrase,⁴²Yechezkel 41:9. “[There was] an [open space] that was munach [before] the structure of the side-chambers of the House.” Targum Yonason also speaks of, “space that was left,” i.e., space that was without a structure, which was the same width as the side-chambers, which was left in the corners of the edifice. Thus, it is written:⁴³Ibid.:11. “The width of the place left open (munach) was five cubits all around.” Rashi⁴⁴Rashi, Yechezkel 41:9. explains that, “the phrase ‘all around’ stated with regard to the munach should not be interpreted according to its simple meaning, at all four corners. Instead, it means ‘at either side,’ on the south and on the north, i.e., at the southeast corner and at the northeast corner.”

There was a parallel structure made up of 15 cells on the southern side. However, the fourth cell on the southern side was not called “the winding stairwell” in the mishnah⁶⁹Middos 4:7. but rather, “the chamber for water to descend.”⁷⁰Similarly, the wall to the cell's south was called, “the wall of the chamber for water to descend.” Thus, the south side of the Beis HaMikdash was also 25 cubits long.⁷¹This including the additional width of a cubit for the foundation, as explained above. In the center was the Holy Sanctuary that was 20 cubits wide and the total width of the Beis HaMikdash was 70 cubits. This was true with the exception of the easternmost 10 cubits. Those 10 cubits included an additional 15 cubits in width on each side. That area was called Beis HaChalifos – the Chamber of the Knives.