Looking west within the Holy. Inner Altar is in the center. |
Inside the Sanctuary was the Holy, 20 cubits wide, 40 cubits long, and 40 cubits high (30 feet by 60 feet by 60 feet). As in the Antechamber, the interior was plated with gold and magnificently decorated. Covering the floor were wooden panels plated with gold. The only part not covered with gold was the area hidden behind the inner Sanctuary doors when they were open. Since this area was not visible while the doors were open, plating it with gold would have served no purpose and the Torah does not needlessly waste the money of the Jews.
View of the Golden Table from Yoav Elan on Vimeo.
Each of these vessels was an exact replica of those built by Moses for the Tabernacle. Unlike the Laver which may actually have been Moses’ original, the Menorah and Table were only duplicates since the originals were hidden before the destruction of the First Temple. All three of these vessels were placed in the middle third of the Sanctuary’s length with the Menorah in the south, the Table in the north, and the Inner Altar centered between them and slightly off towards the east. King Solomon fashioned ten copies of both the Menorah and the Table which were arranged in rows of five on either side of the originals, and the same practice was followed in the Second Temple.
There were twelve windows in the Sanctuary corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. It was common at the time to construct windows with narrow outer openings and wide inner openings, both for security purposes and to allow more light to enter the room. The windows of the Sanctuary were designed with the narrow openings on the inside and the wide openings on the outside to symbolize that the Temple, far from needing light, was the source of light for the world.
Why does the picture have numerous menorahs. Wasn't there only one?
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in the post, we know that King Solomon built ten copies of both the Menorah and the Table and installed them in the Sanctuary (this is described in the Book of Kings and discussed in the Gemara, Menachos 98b). Based on his precedent, the builders of the Second Temple did the same thing.
ReplyDeleteHi Rabbi Elan. Your diagram shows 20 large windows.10 on the ground and 10 to the second level. Which 12 please are you refferring to. Thanks. Also do we know the size of the windows.
ReplyDeleteRegards Yosef Ber
There are also two windows on each level in the east, that is, they open into the Ulam. The windows (of the main floor) would have spanned the distance from the tops of the tauim, or small rooms, around the outside of the building up to the floor of the upper level. The actual height will depend on how high you set the tauim. In my illustrations and models the tauim are 26 amos high.
ReplyDeleteHi. Thanks for that! I forgot about the windows to the Ulam. So are the 12 you are refferring to only those of the lower main floor and if so would it be 4x on North 4x on South 2x in Ulam and 2x to West (back) of Heichal. I am making my Taim total height 21 amos.
DeleteSo from the top of Taim to the bottom of the decorations joining structure going up 5 Amos for the next level, I have 19 Amos of space. Please tell me if there is a raya anywhere which mentions this and also would it be the same for the upper level or would the windows be bigger as there would be a full 40 amos.
Thanks
Regards
Yosef Ber
Ezras Kohanim to Middos 4:5 says that the windows spanned the distance from the tauim to the ceiling. If you were asking about an explicit proof for the height of the tauim themselves, I don't have one. I do make a hypothesis that the tauim were 26 amos high in total. As for the upper windows, I suppose you could make them even taller because you have more room up there, although in my model I make them the same height as the lower ones for symmetry.
DeleteHi again Rabbi. I hope you are well. We learn in both Tamid and Middos how the Kohen who had the duty, opened up the 2 sets of double doors to the Ulam and Kodesh. What I find exceptionally puzzling is how 1 man could physically do the work of 5, or 4 at least! The doors were 20 Amos high by 5 Amos wide and were made of olive wood (from what I believe). A very dense wood. I have always thought that it took like 4-5 men to open each of the double gates! Even without the gold that was added later on, the original Copper plated doors I reckon would also have been very heavy to move and impossible by oneself. For sure at the time later on once they were replaced with gold,which is one of the heaviest metals. Do you have any eitzers on this one?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
R' Yosef Ber, thank you for the question and for spurring me on to research this a bit more. It turns out that the Beis Hamikdash was not the only ancient structure with massive metal doors. The Pantheon in Rome has very similar doors. They are close to the size of the Heychal doors and are made of solid bronze, weighing many tons each. Various articles report that the doors are so well balanced that they can be opened by a single person!
ReplyDeleteThis article has some nice pictures of these doors and similar ones - also with the locking mechanism partially visible - worth a look.