Kaisipang Hudyo sa Ezekiel 41:15: The Third Beit HaMikdash

Rashi explains the phrase,⁹Yechezkel 41:15-16. “the vestibules of the courtyard. Its doorposts, its windows,” as follows: “This refers to the vestibules of the courtyard mentioned above, as it is written: ‘There were vestibules all around.’ ” The phrases “Its doorposts” and the words “its windows” refer to these vestibules. The fact that the verse mentions “the courtyard,” and not “the courtyards,” teaches that this verse is only referring to one courtyard. Thus, this verse is referring to the vestibules located within the Inner Courtyard and not those outside its walls, in the Outer Courtyard.

Facing them, he saw the walkways of the Entrance Hall, with its corridors¹⁵See Yechezkel 41:15 and sec. 50 above. and two mighty columns:¹⁶See Yechezkel 40:48-49 and sections 47-48 above.

“He measured the length of the building at the front of the structure,… [including] its projections on either side as one hundred cubits.”¹Yechezkel 41:15. The verse uses the word אתיקיהא, which Targum Yonason translates as, “its projections.” Thus, the verse is teaching us that when the angel measured the length of the building, he included the projections on the corners. The projections refer to the structure which the Mishnah in Tractate Middos refers to as the Beis HaChalifos, “the Chamber of the Knives,”²Middos 4:7. This chamber was given this name because the slaughterers’ knives were stored there (Rav Ovadiah of Bartenura). as it states:³Ibid. “The Ulam was fifteen cubits longer than [the building of the Beis HaMikdash] on either side. [That area] was called Beis HaChalifos.”