Tsurat bet ha-mikdash (Shape of the Temple Sanctuary)

Introduction

The Lord to the prophet Ezekiel (may he rest in peace): you, son of man, show the House to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the design. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the form of the House and its design, its exits and its entrances and all its forms and all its statutes, all its forms and all its laws, and write it before their eyes, and they will keep its entire form and all its statutes and do them (Ezekiel 43:10–11). The Lord thus commanded the prophet to instruct Israel to take all the measurements of the House, and to preserve its shapes in their hearts, in case the Messiah arrives today and no builder is ready here to construct the house. Rashi explains accordingly: and they will keep—“they will learn the details of the measurements from your mouth so that they will know how to do them at the end time.” It is possible that the second mention of all its forms in the verse—whose meaning Rashi states as being unclear—is referring to a tangible form, i.e., that he should produce an image according to its measurements, as this is an aid to comprehension. [ . . . ] The Radak [David Kimḥi (1160–1235)] explains likewise, on the word design: “they should measure the design of the form of the House, and prepare it as a sign that they will yet carry this out in the future, for they will make it when the redeemer comes and the dead are resurrected, as those who see this form will live in this building in the future.”

Now, in addition to what we sought in his commentary, we have thereby learned that the Lord promised that by virtue of their understanding of the image of the form of the House, they would merit the resurrection of the dead. This promise was not issued to the generation of Ezekiel alone, for why should we who come after them be worse off? Rather, it is a general promise to all those who guard and measure this form that they will merit resurrection, in order that they may perform the work in the future. For this is the case with regard to all the declarations of the prophets—although they are addressed to those who were present, they equally had in mind their future children, who will come after them and who will relate these matters until the last generation. [ . . . ]

The midrash [Tanḥuma Tzav 14:1] teaches us: son of man, show the House to the house of Israel—when the Holy One revealed Himself and showed to Ezekiel the form of the House, and its design and entrances, the Holy One declared: show the House to the house of Israel. He replied to Him: my Master! Are they building it now so that you say “they will keep its entire form and do them”? God responded: no; but even though they will not be doing it now, they should read about the form of the House, and I will consider it as though they were busying themselves with its construction [ . . . ] and since this is so, we can learn from here that one must busy oneself with understanding and examining this matter. For if this were not the case, but rather that this “busying oneself with it” could be achieved merely by reading the passages, one could simply read the whole thing [ . . . ] therefore, although it states “read,” the mention of “busying” indicates that this is something which requires effort, similar to the wording of the blessing over the Torah, where we state “to busy ourselves with words of Torah.” The language of the prophet indicates likewise: and let them measure etc.

After the above comments and words of truth, I too, who am young in years, who follow the dust of the footsteps of the wise, when I read this summons issued by God to the prophet, that he should inform the house of Israel to be ashamed of their iniquities, and measure the design etc., I made every effort to find a handle with which I could perhaps comprehend part of this topic. For it is not incumbent upon us to finish the task, but neither are we free to absolve ourselves from it, as stated [see m. Avot 2:16]. After I had reviewed the material two or three times over, with the explanations of the greatest of commentaries, Rashi, of blessed memory, I realized that the best thing to do was to prepare the design by means of a broad sketch, so that it should be before my eyes, just as we are commanded to do, as I wrote above. When my contemporaries saw the drawing in my possession, they implored me to engrave it with an iron pen and lead [see Job 19:24], so that it should last for a long time (Jeremiah 32:14), until the end time. I would thereby bring merit upon the masses, for when ten enter the synagogue, they do not think about Ezekiel’s House, due to the difficulty in understanding the topic. I said to myself that I would not withhold good from him to whom it is due [see Proverbs 3:27], and I would not be considered like one who enters a domain where he does not belong and seeks to stand where the great ones belong, as I have not set out to present anything new, but simply to clarify the words of this commentary, since his intention was not to obfuscate but to explain. [ . . . ]

And may the One who stretches out its light like a robe [see Psalms 104:2] and gave us this Torah, which is ordered in all regards and sure (2 Samuel 23:5), and who instructs sinners in the right way [see Psalms 25:8], give me instruction and support me in both minor and major details, regarding the building of the chosen House, and may our eyes behold His glory residing there. [These are] the words of the contemptible and lowly, on the matter and form, who writes in his colleagues’ honor, as his love for them burns like a fire in his heart: Yom Tov, who is called Lipmann, son of R. Nathan (may his memory be for the life of the world to come) Levi Heller, from the holy congregation of Wallerstein, my birthplace. I have now settled in Prague: a city of scribes and scholars, a holy and grand community, full of people, a large, capital city, where I drew this form. [ . . . ]

32

There was a chamber within the inner courtyard near this gate, and the entrance to this chamber was toward the sides of the gate, alongside the gate. It was there that they would wash the burnt-offering [see Ezekiel 40:38]. It appears that this chamber is the slaughtering house. The reason why its opening was to the side of the gate, rather than at the courtyard, alongside the altar, is to prevent the priests and the people who were standing in the courtyard from seeing inside, as it was sometimes filthy with the dung and blood of the animals that were slaughtered and skinned there. Alternatively, this was arranged in order that they should not hear the confessions of the sinners who would bring their sin-offerings and guilt-offerings there. For they would confess when they rested their hands upon the animals, and this act of resting the hands is performed immediately prior to the slaughter.