Kaisipang Hudyo sa Ezekiel 41:14: The Third Beit HaMikdash

“The building that was on the outer side of the edifice on its western side.” Rashi interprets הגזרה as the main edifice of the Beis HaMikdash. Radak²⁸See Radak, Yechezkel 41:12. – and similarly, Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel,²⁹See Abarbanel, Yechezkel 41:14. questions this interpretation, noting that shortly thereafter, the narrative states,³⁰Yechezkel 41:14. “the width of the outer side of the House and the גזרה on the east.” According to Rashi, the verse is redundant, because the גזרה and “the House” are identical.

“The width of the outer side of the House and the edifice on the east was one hundred cubits.”⁶⁶Yechezkel 41:14. I have already explained that the term, “the outer side of the House” refers to the side-chambers built on the outer side of the main structure of the Beis HaMikdash, and that the term, “the edifice” refers to the main building of the Beis HaMikdash. The total width on the eastern side was 100 cubits. Even though the width of the western side was 70 cubits, the width of the eastern side was 100, because the Ulam, the vestibule, extended an additional 15 cubits on each side. Adding these 30 cubits to the 70 cubits of the main structure produces a total of 100 cubits, as explained at length in sec. 50. Consult that source.

“In front of the chambers, there was a passageway ten cubits wide leading to the inner area¹This is referring to the Twenty Cubit Space between the building of the Sanctuary and the chambers mentioned in sec. 70. via a space of one cubit.”²Yechezkel 42:4. To explain: it was impossible to enter the Twenty Cubit Space between the chambers and the cells, via the Inner Courtyard or via the Outer Courtyard. The Inner Courtyard measured 100 cubits by 100 cubits in front of the building of the Beis HaMikdash to the east.³Ibid. 40:47. Now, it is written:⁴Ibid. 21:14. “The width of the House to the east was 100 cubits.” Thus, the width of the building matches the width of the Courtyard. The 5 cubits of the Twenty Cubit Space which extended beyond the fifteen cubits of Beis HaChalifos on either side were closed off by the width of the wall – 6 cubits wide – that separated between the Outer Courtyard and the Inner Courtyard when coming from the east to the west. If so, there would not be an entrance to that Twenty Cubit Space unless there was a space for a slanted⁵Here, the term מְשַׁפֵּעַ, translated as “slanted,” implies not only a slanted at an angle, but also inclined upward because the Twenty Cubit Space was on a higher portion of the Temple Mount. passageway that entered the wall. This slanted passageway would be located where the wall between the Inner and the Outer Courtyard ended. The passageway would be located in the thickness of the wall, and would be a cubit wide, of sufficient width to enable a person to enter.⁶As Sukkah 7b states, an ordinary person is a cubit wide. One would enter the 5-cubit space between the wall of Beis HaChalifos and the chambers, and proceed westward 10 cubits within that space. After 10 cubits, Beis HaChalifos ended. This is the meaning of the phrase, “a passageway 10 cubits wide.” From that point on, there was a twenty-cubit space between the chambers and the side-chambers adjacent to the Sanctuary. Why was this passageway described as 10 cubits wide? Seemingly, it would have been more proper to say, “ten cubits long.” Nevertheless, the term “wide” was used because the passageway ran from east to west, adjacent to Beis HaChalifos. Beis HaChalifos measured 15 cubits from north to south. Since the distance from north to south was longer than the distance from east to west, the 10 cubits that Beis HaChalifos ran from east to west is described as its width. Similarly, the distance 15-cubit distance from north to south is described as the length because it is a larger distance. This is Rashi’s understanding of the verse.