Kaisipang Hudyo sa Ezekiel 42:13: The Third Beit HaMikdash

He saw chambers aloft, and compartments for those who serve in this House.¹⁴See Yechezkel 42:13 and sec. 71 above.

It is, however, possible to explain that meat from the sacrifices of the most sacred order is more often found in the north because these sacrifices must be slaughtered there.⁶See Zevachim 47a. It is even possible to say that just as for all time, the north was designated as the place where these sacrifices must be slaughtered, in the Ultimate Future, it will also be designated as the place where they must be eaten.⁷This hypothesis requires explanation for Yechezkel 42:13 specifically states that these sacrifices can be eaten in the Twenty Cubit Space on the south.

There were also chambers on the southern side of the main edifice of the Beis HaMikdash, opposite to and resembling those on the northern side. Their length, their width, their openings, their dimensions, and their entrances are the same as the others’. Thus, it is written:²⁷Yechezkel 41:10. “Between the chambers [and the House], there was [a space of] 20 cubits around the House to either side.” By saying, “there was [a space of] 20 cubits around the House to either side,” the verse implies that there were chambers on either side of the House, i.e., on the north and the south, as explained in sec. 70. Similarly, it is written:²⁸Ibid. 43:13. “And he said to me, ‘The chambers on the north and the chambers on the south facing the edifice, they are the holy chambers where the kohanim who draw close to God will eat the sacrifices of the most sacred order… the meal-offerings, the sin-offerings, and the guilt-offerings, because the place is holy.’”