1)

(a)The outer extremity of the Chil (which we mentioned earlier) was marked - with a wooden lattice-work ten Tefachim tall.

(b)The thirteen breaches in the Soreg - were perpetrated by the Greek kings (see Tiferes Yisrael).

(c)After repairing the breaches (though leaving the scars of the breaches visible), the Chachamim instituted that - whoever passed any of those locations should stop and prostrate himself to Hash-m (see Tiferes Yisrael).

(d)The Chil was - ten Amos wide.

2)

(a)One got from the Chil to the Ezras Nashim - by climbing twelve steps.

(b)Each step measured - half an Amah high and half an Amah wide ...

(c)... as were all the steps in the Beis-Hamikdash - with the sole exception of the steps leading from the Mizbe'ach to the Ulam, as we will see later.

3)

(a)Almost all the gates were twenty Amos tall - and ten Amos wide.

(b)The one exception was - the gate to the Ulam, which was forty Amos by twenty.

(c)The entrance to the Ulam also differed from all the other entrances - inasmuch as it was the only entrance to have no door (only a curtain, as we learned in Tamid).

(d)The ...

1. ... lintel of Sha'ar Tedi differed from that of all the other gates - in that instead of being a single cross-bar, it comprised two beams, one resting on one door-post, the other, on the other door-post, that rose at an angle, together forming an upside-down 'vee' (see Tiferes Yisrael).

2. ... Sha'ar Nikanor (the east gate of the Azarah) differed from all the other gates - inasmuch as it was not later overlaid with gold (see Tiferes Yisrael), in order to give deference to the great miracles that occurred with them during transportation (as we learned in Yoma).

(e)Others ascribe this distinction - to the fact that the copper gates already shone like gold.

4)

(a)Almost all the walls towered above the twenty-Amah entrances. The one exception was - the eastern wall of the Har ha'Bayis - to enable the Kohen Gadol to see the entrance to the Heichal via all the entrances, whilst he sprinkled the blood of the Parah Adumah in that direction.

(b)The reason for this distinction is because the Beis-Hamikdash was built on a steep slope, due to which the Heichal rose twenty-two Amos above the floor of the beginning of the Har ha'Bayis.

(c)The height of the wall of the Har ha'Bayis was twenty Amos (no higher than the actual gateway).

(d)Assuming that the spot where the Har ha'Mishchah was level with the top of the wall of the Har ha'Bayis, between the top of the wall of the Har ha'Bayis and the Heichal - two Amos were visible between the top of the wall of the Har ha'Bayis and the Heichal .

5)

(a)The Ezras Nashim was 135 Amos long - and 135 Amos wide.

(b)The dimensions of the four rooms located, one on each of the four corners - were forty by forty Amos.

(c)The Pasuk in Yechezkel writes "va'Yotzi'eni el ha'Chatzer ha'Chitzonah" - with reference to the Ezras Nashim, which (unlike the Ezras Yisrael) was separated from the adjacent Azarah (the Ezras Yisrael) by means of a door.

(d)We learn from the Pasuk there ...

1. ... "ve'Hineh Chatzer, va'Ya'avireni el Arba'ah Miktzo'ei he'Chatzer" that - the Ezras Nashim must contain the four Lishkos on its four corners at all times.

2. ... "Chatzros Keturos" that - these Lishkos may not be covered (so that it is possible for smoke to rise from them).

6)

(a)The south-eastern Lishkah was called 'Lishkas ha'Nezirim', and the north-eastern one, 'Lishkas ha'Eitzim'. In the former - the Nezirim who had completed their term of Nezirus would cook their Shelamim and shave off their hair and place it under the pot.

(b)The latter was - where the Kohanim Ba'alei-Mumin would examine the wood for the Ma'arachah, disqualifying any piece of wood in which they found a worm.

(c)In the north-western Lishkah (the Lishkas ha'Metzora'im) - the Metzora'im would Tovel, before placing their hands inside the Sha'ar Nikanor, as part of their purification ceremony (even though they had already Toveled the night before).

7)

(a)Rebbi Eliezer ben Ya'akov could not recall what the fourth Lishkah (in the south-west) was called. Aba Shaul reminded him that it was called 'Lishkas Beis Shamnehah' - where they kept the wine and the oil for the Minchas Nesachim (see Tiferes Yisrael).

(b)We learn from Rebbi Eliezer ben Ya'akov's statement that - he is the author of all S'tam Mishnahs in Midos.

(c)When the Tana states that the Ezras Nashim was initially smooth - he means that it was open, without walls (see also Tosfos Yom-Tov and Tiferes Yisrael).

(d)They subsequently erected a wall around it) - in order to build a balcony for the women to stand during the Simchas Beis ha'Sho'eivah (to avoid the mixing of men and women).

8)

(a)The fifteen steps that lead from the Ezras Nashim to the Ezras Yisrael are reminiscent of - the fifteen 'Shir ha'Ma'alos' in Tehilim.

(b)The Levi'im stood on these steps - when they sang during the Simchas Beis ha'Sho'eivah (see Rosh).

(c)Their shape differed from all the other steps in the Beis-Hamikdash - inasmuch as they were oval shaped (instead of oblong [see Tiferes Yisrael]).

(d)It is compared - to half of a circular threshing-floor, which is (the same expression that Chazal use when describing the Sanhedrin in the Lishkas ha'Gazis).

9)

(a)Two rooms, located underneath the Ezras Yisrael, opened out into - the Ezras Nashim.

(b)The Levi'im put there - their harps, their lutes and their cymbals, as well as many other instruments.

(c)The Ezras Yisrael (from east to west) measured only eleven Amos wide. Its length (from north to south) was - 135 Amos.

(d)The measurements of the Ezras Kohanim (from the Ezras Yisrael up to the Mizbe'ach) - were equivalent to those of the Ezras Yisrael (135 x 11 Amos).

10)

(a)They divided between the Ezras Yisrael and the Ezras Kohanim - with beams that protruded from the north and south walls at the point where the two Azaros met (or short posts sticking out from the ground running across the Azarah (see Tosfos Yom-Tov DH 'Ezras Yisrael').

(b)According to Rebbi Eliezer ben Ya'akov however (see Tiferes Yisrael) - the two Azaros were divided by means of a step.

(c)Precisely because that step was one Amah high, the Tana goes on to say that the Ezras Kohanim was two and a half Amos higher than the Ezras Yisrael - since on top of that step they built the Duchan (on which the Levi'im sang the Shir shel Yom), which comprised three steps, each one half an Amah high.

(d)The length of the Azarah (from the Ezras Yisrael until the back of the Beis ha'Kapores in the west) was 187 Amos (as will be explained in the last Perek) and the width - 135 Amos (from east to west).

11)

(a)A visitor to the Azarah had to prostrate himself - thirteen times ...

(b)... corresponding to the thirteen breeches in the Soreg (that we discussed earlier), according to the Tana Kama.

(c)According to Aba Yossi ben Chanan, they corresponded to the total number of gates in the Azarah (even though the Tana in Midos listed only seven [see Tosfos Yom-Tov in Shekalim]). In the south, the Tana lists Sha'ar ha'Elyon, ha'Delek, ha'Bechoros and ha'Mayim. The first one was called by that name - because it was higher up on the mountain than the others. We do not know what purpose it served.

12)

(a)Rebbi Eliezer ben Ya'akov explains Sha'ar ha'Mayim like we did in Tamid (regarding the stream that came out of the Kodesh Kodshim). When he says 'Bo ha'Mayim Mefachim' he means that - when the stream left the current gate, it was as wide as the mouth of an earthenware jar (a Pach), as we learned in Tamid.

(b)In time to come, says the Mishnah - that is how the water will emerge from the Heichal.

(c)According to the Tana Kama, it was called Sha'ar ha'Mayim - because that was where they brought the water into the Azarah for Nisuch ha'Mayim on Succos.

13)

(a)The Tana then lists the four gates in the north: Sha'ar Yechonyah, Korban, Nashim and Shir. Sha'ar ...

1. ... Yechonyah (which is synonymous with Sha'ar ha'Nitzutz [Tiferes Yisrael]) was where Yechonyah took leave of the Beis-Hamikdash on his way into exile.

2. ... Nashim was - the gate through which the women would enter to perform Semichah on their Korban (or at least to stand beside it whilst the Kohen was performing the Avodah with it [see Tosfos Yom-Tov).

(b)We already explained Sha'ar Korban in Tamid. The Sha'ar ha'Shir (which was equivalent to the Sha'ar Beis ha'Mokad [Tiferes Yisrael]) was the gate through which the Levi'im brought their instruments from the tunnels (Tosfos Yom-Tov [see above 9b]).

(c)In the east, the Tana lists Sha'ar Nikanor (which we have already discussed), and he adds the two Pishp'shin that flanked it (as we learned in Tamid [see Tosfos Yom-Tov in Shekalim, as to why the Tana does not include the Pishpesh in the Sha'ar Beis-ha'Mokad]).

(d)To make up the thirteen gates, he refers to two in the west - whose names are not known. It seems however, that one of them was drawn towards the south, and the other one towards the north, so that someone who exited from them would not need to turn his back on the Kodesh Kodshim, which would otherwise have been directly behind him.

14)

(a)The Mizbe'ach was 32 x 32 Amos at the base. When it reached the top of the Y'sod it went in one Amah on all sides. The dimensions of ...

1. ... the Y'sod - were one Amah tall and one Amah wide.

2. ... the next section of the Mizbe'ach up to the Sovev - was 30 x 30 and five Amos tall (excluding the Amah of the Y'sod).

(b)The Sovev was a ledge of one Amah, which enabled the Kohanim to walk round the Mizbe'ach when necessary, without ascending to the top.

(c)They manufactured the Y'sod - by making a wooden frame 32 x 32 Amos (except for the small section that did not have a Y'sod [see Bartenura at the end of the Mishnah]) and one Amah tall, which they then filled with small stones, lime, pitch and melted lead. When it dried, they simply removed the frame. And that is how they made each section of the Mizbe'ach, including the four K'ranos on top.

(d)The dimensions of ...

1. ... the upper section of the Mizbe'ach from the Sovev to the Makom ha'Ma'arachah - were 28 x 28 Amos, and three Amos tall.

2. ... the four K'ranos - were one cubic Amah.

15)

(a)Allowing for a deduction of two Amos each way for the K'ranos, the Tana then gives the dimensions of the Makom ha'Ma'arachah as 24 x 24 Amos (and not 26 x 26 Amos) - because the one Amah adjacent to the K'ranos, all the way round the top of the Mizbe'ach, was designated for the Kohanim to walk on.

(b)According to Rebbi Yossi, the Makom ha'Ma'arachah was originally 20 x 20 Amos. He arrives at that figure - by giving the dimensions of the Y'sod as 28 x 28 Amos (instead of 32 x 32.

(c)And it was the returnees from Bavel who changed it to 24 x 24.

(d)The source for this measurement is the Pasuk (in connection with the Mizbe'ach) "ve'ha'Ariel Sh'teim-Esrei Orech bi'She'teim-Esrei Rochav". We learn from the Pasuk there "al Arba'as Reva'av" that - the Makom ha'Ma'arachah was not 12 x 12 Amos, but twelve from the center in all four directions.

16)

(a)The Chut ha'Sikra - was a red thread that encircled the Mizbe'ach half-way down (one Amah below the Sovev), to divide between the blood that was sprinkled on the upper half of the Mizbe'ach and the blood that was sprinkled on the lower half.

(b)The Y'sod did not encircle the entire Mizbe'ach - only the northern and western sides, extending just one Amah along the eastern and southern sides, respectively.

(c)That is because it was only the part of the Mizbe'ach that was in the portion of Binyamin that had a Y'sod - and most of the east and south sides of the Mizbe'ach (including the south-eastern Keren) belonged to Yehudah (as we learned in Zevachim).

17)

(a)According to Rebbi Yossi, they added the four by four Amos - to the west and south sides of the Mizbe'ach (in the shape of a Greek Gamma [like an upside-down 'el').

(b)They did this based on the fact that originally, the Nesachim drained from the Mizbe'ach - by flowing down on to the floor, into a pit at the foot of the Mizbe'ach, and then down to the Shitin.

(c)They added to the Mizbe'ach, turning that part of the Azarah into a part of the Mizbe'ach - because they Darshened that, just as the Mizbe'ach consumes the food that it eats, so too, should it consume the beverages that it drinks (within its own bowels, and not next to it).

(d)Shlomoh ha'Melech Darshened the Pasuk "Mizbach Adamah Ta'aseh Li" to mean that the Mizbe'ach, like the ground, should be filled in without holes, the B'nei Golah interpreted it to mean that - the Mizbe'ach should be joined directly to the ground, and not on buttresses or archways raising them above ground level.