Three fires were kept burning on the top of the Mizbeyach every day. The largest of these was located in the southeastern quadrant. All sacrificial parts which were required to be burned on the top of the Mizbeyach were placed on this fire. Each morning this fire would be rebuilt by laying down two logs, parallel to each other, and then stacking two more logs on top, perpendicular to the first two, to form a square. A few more layers were added to make it “very large.”
The Gemara has been discussing various details of the parah adumah procedure. This process was a rare occurrence, for it only happened nine times in the history of the world. Even so, a great deal of preparation and construction was put into place so that the process could be carried out properly when the need arose.
Shlomo Hamelech planted trees in the First Beis Hamikdash that produced golden fruit. The Kohanim would sell this fruit and use the money to support their families. Although these magical trees died when the First Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, we shall experience this miracle once again in the future Beis Hamikdash. During the times of the Second Beis Hamikdash, however, they had no golden fruit but still had poor Kohanim, so they attempted to replicate this concept with a manmade alternative.
The Kiyor was a container of water used by the Kohanim to wash their hands and feet prior to beginning the avodah. It was a sanctified vessel, and if water would remain inside the Kiyor overnight it would become unfit for use in the Beis Hamikdash. This would have required the Kohanim to empty the Kiyor each night and refill it the next day, which is both degrading to the sanctified water of the Kiyor and a time-consuming task.
