ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף יחזקאל 42:4

The southern wall of the Inner Courtyard was one measuring rod thick, as explained in sec. 8 above. Rashi also states this in his commentary to the phrase, “and before the chambers;”¹Yechezkel 42:4. consult that source. Both the southern wall and the space it surrounded were 100 cubits long.²Explanation is necessary because a wall that surrounds a space on all four sides must be larger than its inner space. The inner space of the Inner Courtyard was a square, measuring 100 cubits by 100 cubits, as will be explained in section 36,³The original printing of Tzuras HaBayis, states sec. 35. with God’s help.

The 15 cubit projections on either side of the building extended only 10 cubits. This is evident from the statement concerning the building of the Beis HaMikdash,⁷Yechezkel 41:12. “Its length was one hundred cubits.” This verse is teaching us that the length of the building from west to east, until the Beis HaChalifos, is 90 cubits. The entire building including the projections, i.e., Beis HaChalifos, is 100 cubits, as will be explained in sec. 65. Thus from east to west, Beis HaChalifos is only 10 cubits. Rashi offers a similar explanation in his commentary to the verse,⁸Yechezkel 42:4. “In front of the chambers, there was a passageway of ten cubits.”

“Their entrances [opened] to the north.”¹⁷Ibid.:4. Thus, the chambers opened toward the Outer Courtyard. This is evident from the fact that the verse specifically mentions the entrances in the north. In his commentary to the verse,¹⁸Ibid. 46:19. “And he brought me through the entranceway.” Rashi states that these chambers also had entrances to the Twenty Cubit Space between them and the main edifice of the Beis HaMikdash. This can be concluded from the above verse, that states: “And he brought me through the entranceway… to the chambers,” implying that Yechezkel was brought through the entranceway leading to the Twenty Cubit Space, and from there to the chambers. Similarly, in sec. 73, it will be demonstrated that there were entrances to the chambers from the entranceway. See the end of that section.