Kaisipang Hudyo sa Ezekiel 44:3: The Third Beit HaMikdash

Rav Yitzchak Abarbanel comments on this mishnah:⁶Abarbanel, Yechezkel 44:3. [The Sages’] conception was that the prophet’s vision here was identical with [the structure] that was made in the Second Beis HaMikdash. My mind cannot accept this. In the Second Beis HaMikdash, [God’s] Glory did not enter via the eastern gate.⁷I.e., with regard to the First Beis HaMikdash, it is written (I Melachim 8:10-11): “And it came to pass, when the kohanim departed from the Sanctuary, the cloud filled the House of God and the kohanim could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of God filled the House of God.” In the Second Beis HaMikdash, by contrast, there was not such a manifestation of Divine Glory, for as our Sages said (Yoma 21b), the Divine presence did not rest in the Second Beis HaMikdash. If that [prophecy] was not yet fulfilled, how can it be said, “This gate shall be closed… because God, the Lord of Israel, has entered it”? The implication is that the closing of the gate will come after [God’s] Glory enters the House.

The passage continues, stating:⁹Yechezkel 44:3. “The nasi will sit within it to partake of food in God’s presence.” Here, the term nasi, literally, “the uplifted one,” refers to the kohen gadol, the High Priest. Since the kohen gadol is more prestigious than the other kohanim, he would not usually eat together with the other kohanim in the various chambers. Instead, he would partake of his portion of the sacrificial offerings while sitting in the entranceway of this wicket.