(Mishnah): In the evening after the first Yom Tov of Sukos they would descend to the Ezras Nashim and make a great arrangement (as will be explained).

There were golden Menorahs there and golden buckets on their tops. There were four ladders for each Menorah and four young Kohanim, holding 120 Lug jugs of oil, which they would pour into each bucket.

(Gemara - Beraisa - R. Yehoshua ben Chananya): During the days of the Simchas Beis Hasho'evah they would not taste sleep at all. They would first go to sacrifice the morning Korban Tamid. From there, they went to sacrifice the Korban Musaf, then to sacrifice volunteer offerings, then to eat and drink, then to learn Torah, then to sacrifice the afternoon Korban Tamid, then to the Simchas Beis Hasho'evah.

Question (Beraisa): A person who says, "I am making an oath that I will not sleep for three days"; we give him lashes and he may sleep immediately (since it is not possible to refrain from sleeping for three days, he will certainly break his oath)?

Answer: They would doze on each other's shoulders (but not sleep).

The Mishnah had taught: They made there a great arrangement.

Question: What was the arrangement that they made?

Answer: They would stand the men and women separately, like the Mishnah (in Maseches Midos) that teaches - the Ezras Nashim was originally flat but they later built a gallery around the perimeter in order to separate them, with the women viewing from above and the men standing down below.

Question: What was their source for doing this?

Answer: From the Torah, as the Pasuk states (Zecharya 12, 12), "The land will mourn each of the families by itself".

There were two Amoraim who disagreed over this Pasuk - One said that it refers to the eulogy over the Mashiach (ben Yosef who will be killed in the war of Gog). The other one said that it refers to the eulogy over the Evil Inclination.

According to the explanation that it will be a eulogy for Mashiach - if at a time of mourning you require the men and women to be kept separate, at a time of joy, it is certainly needed!

According to the explanation that it will be a eulogy over the Evil Inclination - if at a time when there is no Evil Inclination (to sin) you require the men and women to be kept separate, at a time when there is an Evil Inclination, it is certainly needed!

The Mishnah had taught: There were golden Menorahs there.

Bar Kafra: Their height was 100 Amos.

Question (Beraisa): Anything that is 100 Amos tall must a have a base that is 33 1/3 Amos wide? (If there were four Menorahs arranged near each other, how could they each have a base of 33 Amos?

Answer: One ladder's base of 33 was in one direction and another ladder base was in another direction.

Question (Beraisa): The dimensions of the entire Azarah were only 187 by 135 Amos?

They discovered a Beraisa that taught - the ladder and candles stood in a miraculous fashion in that they did not take up any space.

Question: How much oil did the young Kohanim carry? Was it 120 Lug in total (30 each) or was 120 Lug carried by each Kohen? (This question remains unanswered.)

(Mishnah): From the tatters of the pants of the Kohanim, they would (Mafkiyim) make wicks and light them.

There was not a courtyard in Yerushalayim that was not illuminated from the light of the Beis Hasho'evah.

(Gemara - Beraisa): From the (linen) pants of the Kohen Gadol they would light the candles inside and from the pants of the regular Kohanim they would light the candles outside (in the Temple courtyards - they provided light both for the Simchas Beis Hasho'evah and in general, for the Kohanim to be able to see).

R. Shmuel bar Rav Yitzchak: The Pasuk states (Shemos 27, 20), "to cause a candle to burn continually" - the Sages understood that (in order that the flame can continuously burn smoothly) a linen wick should be used.

Question: What does "Mafkiyim" mean in the Mishnah? R. Chagai explained to R. Yosa - they would extract long wicks.

We learned: There was not a courtyard in Yerushalayim that was not illuminated from the light of the Beis Hasho'evah.

Beraisa: A woman could sort wheat from the light of the woodpile.

Question: Would that not be benefitting from Temple property, thereby transgressing the prohibition of Meilah?

Answer: No, as R. Yehoshua ben Levi said that for smell, appearance and sound, one cannot transgress the prohibition of Meilah.

Six sounds of the Temple could be heard from Yericho (which was about 40km away from Yerushalayim) -

The Great Gate of the Temple being opened;

The Magreifah (a certain musical instrument);

The wooden wheel (pulley system) made by Ben Katin for the Kiyor (washing station);

The voice of Gevini the announcer;

The flute;

The cymbals.

Some say, the voice of the Kohen Gadol when he said the Name of Hash-m on Yom Kippur.

From Yericho they could smell the odor of the Ketores (incense).

R. Elazar ben Delgoy: My father had goats grazing in the Achver mountains and they would sneeze from the smell of the incense.