Kaisipang Hudyo sa Ezekiel 42:20: The Third Beit HaMikdash

It was stated above that in the Future, the perimeter of the Temple Mount, may it be built speedily in our days, will be greater than it was during the Second Beis HaMikdash. The mishnah states that during the era of the Second Beis HaMikdash, “The Temple Mount was 500 cubits by 500 cubits.”³⁵Middos 2:1. In contrast, the Future Beis HaMikdash will be six times as large.³⁶Although 3000 equals 6 x 500, 3000 square is 36 times 500 square. Accordingly, we have omitted some lines from the translation and made a bracketed addition to the Hebrew text. Thus, the Future Beis HaMikdash will be 3000 cubits by 3000 cubits. Elazar HaKalir³⁷A renowned composer of piyutim. The phrase cited is from a piyut recited on the second day of Sukkos. alluded to this, writing, “The Beloved One extended a line; 3000 measured cubits.” Indeed, Rashi quotes this piyut, liturgical hymn, in his commentary to Yechezkel 42:20.

“On [all] four sides, he measured it. It had a wall all around, 500 measuring rods long and 500 measuring rods wide to separate between the holy and the mundane.”⁴²Yechezkel 42:20. “And he came to the gateway that faces toward the east.”⁴³Ibid. 40:6. This verse describes how the angel entered the enclosed area of the Temple Mount and came to the eastern gateway leading to the Women’s Courtyard. That courtyard is called “the outer courtyard” throughout the narrative because it is located before the Courtyard of the Israelites. The Women’s Courtyard surrounds and encompasses the entire complex, as will be explained.⁴⁴See sections 2, 17, and 28. In the Second Beis HaMikdash, by contrast, the Women’s Courtyard was located only to the east.