The Bait HaMikdash
Rabbi Aryeh Citron
Parshat Devarim—Shabbat Chazon
Sponsored by Ezzy and Chana Wasserman in honor of Ezzy’s father’s yahrtzeit - Azriel Yitzchok Ben Yisroel – Fourth of Menachem Av
The Bait HaMikdash
The Haftorah of Parshat Devarim is “Chazon Yeshayahu” – the vision of Isaiah. In this, the last of the Haftorahs of misfortune, the prophet Isaiah describes the sinfulness of the Jewish People in harsh detail. He exhorts them to better their ways and “learn to do good, seek justice, strengthen the robbed, perform justice for the orphan, plead the case of the widow.” But he warns that “if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of the L-rd spoke.”[1]
This clarion call for repentance is read annually on the Shabbat before Tisha Be’av – the anniversary of the destruction of both Holy Temples. This Shabbat is called “Shabbat Chazon” – the Shabbat of the Vision—after the Haftorah that we read on this day.
According to the Chassidic masters, this title is also an indication that on this Shabbat, the soul of every Jew experiences a revelation of the Third Bait HaMikdash (Holy Temple). The soul’s experience in turn has an impact on the conscious person to yearn and strive for the rebuilding of that Temple.[2]
This article will focus on various interesting aspects of the First and Second Bait HaMikdash. It is appropriate to study about the Bait HaMikdash as we approach the anniversary of its destruction. The Midrash says that when we cannot actually build the Bait HaMikdash, G-d considers the study about it as if we had built it.[3]
The Search
Before the Jewish people entered the land of Israel, Moshe told them that they would eventually build the Holy Temple in the place that “the L-rd, your G-d, shall choose from all your tribes, to set His Name there.”[4]
According to the Midrash, the location of the Holy Temple could only be determined by a prophet.[5] Yet, the Jewish people were also commanded to “inquire after His dwelling”[6] and determine independently as to where that location would be.
Thus, the Talmud says that the Prophet Samuel and (future) King David spent a night delving into the holy texts to establish where the Bait HaMikdash should be built.[7] Ultimately they decided that it should be built on Mount Moriah, known today as the Temple Mount. This decision was based on the verses that indicate that Mount Moriah is (nearly) the highest point in the Land of Israel,[8] and on the fact that it lies on the border between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.[9]
Many years later, after King David purchased the mountain from the Jebusite king Aravnah, the prophet Gad verified that their decision had been correct.[10]
We can learn from here that we must put in our best effort to accomplish holy goals, even when the achievement of those goals seems difficult. When we put in the effort, G-d helps us in extraordinary ways.[11]
The Holiest Spot on Earth
The Holy Ark was placed in the Holy of Holies on the Even HaShetiyah – the Foundation Stone.[12]It is called the Foundation Stone because G-d began to create the earth from that point.[13] In addition, it is in the merit of the Divine service performed on and near this stone that the world continues to exist.[14]
According to the straightforward meaning of the Talmud, this stone and the Holy Ark placed on it were located in the center of the Holy of Holies.[15] The Rambam writes, however, that the stone was on the west side of the Holy of Holies.[16] Some say that it was in the east side of the Holy of Holies.[17] The source of these opinions is not clear.[18]
The Expansion of the Mizbe’ach (Holy Altar)
The Mizbe’ach HaChitzon (outer Altar) in the first Bait HaMikdash was 28 by 28 amot (cubits in size). When they built the Mizbe’ach of the Second Bait HaMikdash, they expanded it to 32 by 32 amot.[19] The reason for the alteration was as follows:
The Shittin
In the southwest corner of the Mizbe’ach there was a duct that had been hollowed out by King David[20] where the wine and water libations were supposed to descend. This duct was called Shittin which means foundation or libation.[21]
When King Solomon built the First Temple he was of the opinion that the Mizbe’ach could not be above that area since the verse says: “Mizbach adamah” – an altar of earth.[22] He understood this to mean that the Mizbe’ach could not be hollow at all but rather it had to be solid like the earth. So during the First Bait HaMikdash era, the water and wine were poured on the side of the Mizbe’ach and would then drain into the Shittin.
When the Babylonian exiles returned to rebuild the Second Bait HaMikdash, they felt that the water and wine libations should be poured on the actual Mizbe’ach just as the sacrifices were burned on the Mizbe’ach itself. They reinterpreted the above verse to mean that the Mizbe’ach had to be built directly on the earth and not over a dome or cave.[23] (This was different than the rest of the Bait HaMikdash which was purposefully built on top of domes to block tumah (ritual impurity) from rising.[24]) Some say that they realized that the shittin is where G-d took the earth to make Adam’s head, and they felt that this holy spot should be incorporated into the area of the Mizbe’ach.[25] In order to accomplish this goal they expanded the Altar by four cubits to the west and four cubits to the south. Although one may not add to the dimensions of the Bait HaMikdash, they found a verse which supported their view.[26]
We Can Innovate
An important lesson can be gleaned from this. Despite the fact that King Solomon was the wisest of all men, and the returning exiles from Babylonia were men of far lesser spiritual stature, this did not stop them from trying to improve the Bait HaMikdash. This follows the statement of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi in the Talmud that “my forefathers left me an area in which to become great.”[27] The lesson for us is that even in our generation, when we are not nearly as great as our predecessors, we can reveal new Torah insights and institute (certain) innovations in the observance of Mitzvot.
There will be more on the Bait HaMikdash in future e-mails, G-d willing.
∞
May it be Your will, L-rd our G-d and G-d of our fathers, that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days; and grant us our portion in Your Torah.[28]
[1] Isaiah 1,1
[2] See Likutei Sichot vol. 29, pg. 18 - 25
[3] Yalkut Shimoni on Ezekiel, 10, 11
[4] Deut. 12, 5
[5] Sifri on the verse
[6] Deut. ibid
[7] Zevachim 54b
[8] See Joshua 15, 8 and 9
[9] See ibid, 18, 16 The tradition was that the Sanhedrin (high court) would sit (in a section of the Holy Temple that was) in the tribe of Judah but that most of the Bait HaMikdash would be in the portion of Benjamin (Zevachim ibid).
[10] See Samuel Two, 24, 18 “And Gad came to David on that day, and said to him, ‘Go up to erect an altar to the L-rd on the threshing-floor of Aravnah the Jebusite’.”
[11] See Yoma 39a
[12] Yoma, Chapter 5, Mishna 2 Rambam, Laws of Bait HaBechirah 4, 1
[13] Yoma 54b
[14] See Rambam’s Commentary on the Mishna, Yoma, ibid
[15] Megillah 10b See Rashi there D.H. Aino, and Bava Batra 99a
[16] Laws of Bait HaBechirah ibid
[17] Ritzbah quoted in Tosfot D.H. Utzva, Bava Batra 25a
[18] See Tosfot Yom Tov on Yoma ibid. Some say that according to the Rambam, the stone was originally in the west but as long as the Aron was placed on it, it was miraculously relocated to the center (Ezrat Kohanim on Midot 4, 7). See Minchat Chinuch, 95 that perhaps the Rambam believed it was in the west because the Shechina (Divine Presence) is in the west. The Ritzbah held it was in the east so that when workers would have to enter the Holy of Holies to maintain the Torah Scroll that was inside the Aron, they would not have to be in the Holy of Holies any longer than necessary.
[19] Midot, 3, 1
[20] See Makot 11a, Sukkah 53a
[21] See Bartenura on Midot 3, 3, Ezrat Kohanim on ibid
[22] Ex. 20, 21
[23] See Rashi on Ex. Ibid See Tos. D.H. Velo, Zevachim 62a that the hollow of the Shittim itself was not considered a problem since it was aiding in one of the functions of the Mizbe’ach (i.e. the libations).
[24] Hilchot Bait HaBechirah, 5, 1
[25] Ezrat Kohanim Midot, Chapter 3, beginning of Mishna 3
[26] Zevachim 61 b and 62a
[27] Chullin 7a
[28] Avot, 5, 20