Et où se sont-ils inclinés? [Les treize arcs mentionnés ci-dessus (6: 1)—Où ont-ils été exécutés?] Quatre au nord, quatre au sud, trois à l'est et deux à l'ouest, correspondant à treize portes. Les portes sud, s'étendant vers l'ouest: la porte supérieure [Le mont du Temple s'élevait en biais d'est en ouest. La porte près de l'ouest est la porte supérieure. Après il vint] la porte de l'allumage [la porte du bois lishkah, au sud de l'azarah, soi-disant parce qu'ils y ont fait passer le bois pour le tas de bois de l'autel], la porte du bechoroth [par laquelle ils ont amené le bechoroth (les premiers-nés) abattus dans le sud], et la porte de l'eau. Pourquoi s'appelle-t-il «la porte de l'eau»? Car à travers elle est amenée le flacon d'eau pour la libation du festival (Succoth). R. Eliezer n. Yaakov dit: Car de lui l'eau suintait et était destinée à sortir sous le seuil du Temple [à savoir. (Ézéchiel 47: 2): «Et voici, l'eau suintant (mefakim) du côté droit», c'est-à-dire du sud, qui est appelée droite, comme dans (Psaumes 89:13): «Nord et droite». Ézéchiel l'a vu (l'eau) dans une vision prophétique issue du saint des saints, se répandant comme les proboscides des sauterelles, et, en atteignant cette porte, rassemblant des forces, atteignant la plénitude de la bouche d'un flacon (pach) , pour cette raison, il est appelé "mayim mefakim."] Correspondant à eux dans le nord, s'étendant à l'ouest: la porte de Yechanyah, la porte de l'offrande, [par laquelle sont amenés les saints des saints, qui sont massacrés dans le sud] , la porte des femmes, [par laquelle les femmes entrent pour placer leurs mains sur leurs offrandes (Ceci, selon R. Yossi, qui dit que les femmes peuvent le faire; et, selon R. Yehudah et R. Shimon, à tenez-vous à leur offrande], la porte de la chanson, [par laquelle les instruments de musique ont été apportés]. Pourquoi a-t-elle été appelée "la porte de Yechanyah"? et pour obtenir la permission d'aller en exil à Bavel, et il est sorti par cette porte.] t, la porte de Nikanor [(voir Yoma 38a)]. Il y avait deux guichets dedans, un à droite, un à gauche et deux à l'ouest, sans nom. [Il y avait de petites portes dans les grandes portes, qui sont également incluses dans les treize. Et même si la Porte du Foyer avait également un guichet, il n'est pas compté, ayant été très petite, alors que celles-ci étaient plus grandes. Cette Mishna des treize portes est déclarée dans le Yerushalmi comme étant en accord avec Abba Yossi b. Chanan; mais les sages disent qu'il y avait sept portes à l'azarah et qu'ils tiennent ces treize arcs pour correspondre aux treize brèches faites par les rois grecs dans l'azarah. Lorsque les rois hasmonéens ont pris le dessus, les ont vaincus et ont fermé les brèches, ils ont institué treize courbettes, une pour chaque brèche fermée.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
והיכן היו ההשתחויות – thirteen prostrations, as is taught in the Mishnah above (Mishnah 1 of this chapter), where they made them.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
Introduction
This mishnah teaches that the thirteen prostrations mentioned in mishnah one above were made in front of the thirteen gates in the Temple. The mishnah proceeds to name the gates. The commentators explain that the prostrations were to thank God for the glory of the Temple.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
שער עליון – the Temple was slanted going up from east to west, and the gate nearest to the west was the Upper Gate. And behind it was the Fuel Gate, which was the gate of the wood chamber, which was in the south of the [Temple] courtyard and it was called that name because they would bring in through there the wood of the altar that they would burn on the altar which is called the Fuel Gate.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
And where did they make the prostrations? Four [times] in the north, four [times] in the south, three [times] in the east, and twice in the west, in front of the thirteen gates. This section teaches where in the Temple the thirteen gates were located.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
שער הבכורות – they would bring in there the first-born [cattle] that would be slaughtered there in the south.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
The southern gates close to the west [side were]: the Upper Gate, the Fuel Gate, the Gate of the Firstborn [Animals], and the Water Gate. Why was it called the Water Gate? Because through it was brought in the flask of water for the libation on Sukkot. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: through it the waters trickle forth and in the time to come “they will come forth from under the threshold of the Temple” (Ezekiel 47:1). The Upper Gate was on the southwestern side, which was the highest point of the Temple. The Fuel Gate was used to bring in the wood used to fuel the altar’s fires. The firstborn animals were brought in through the Firstborn Animal’s Gate (should be obvious, but still..). The mishnah offers two explanations for why the Water Gate was called as such. The first explanation is that this is where the water libation, offered on Sukkot (we will learn this eventually in Sukkah 4:9), was brought into the Temple. The second is that in the future, when clean living water flows out of the Temple and cleanses the salty water of the Dead Sea, the water will begin to trickle forth from this gate (see Ezekiel 47). There is no Nixon connection.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
מים מפכים – as it is written in Ezekiel (47:2): “And I found water was gushing from [under] the south wall,” and that is south which is called “right-hand,” as it is written )Psalms 89:13): “North and south – [You created them; Tabor and Hermon sing forth Your name].” But see Ezekiel in prophecy that they would go out from the House of the Holy of Holies thin like the proboscides of locusts (see Tractate Pesahim, Chapter 3, Mishnah 5), and when they would arrive at this gate, they would grow strong/gather courage and become like the fulness of a small flask/jar and that is why they call them “gushing waters.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
On the opposite side in the north close to the west were: Jechoniah’ Gate, the Gate of the Offerings, the Gate of the Women, and the Gate of Song. And why was it called the Jechoniah’ Gate? Because through it Jechoniah went out into his captivity. On the opposite side, in the North, there were four more gates. Jechoniah’s Gate was named after the King Jechoniah who was taken captive and put into exile by Nebuchadnezzar (see II Kings 24:15). Sacrifices, which were slaughtered in the northern part of the Temple, were brought in through the Offerings Gate. The Woman’s Gate was a special entrance for women when they brought their sacrifices. The Gate of Song was used to bring in the musical instruments which the Levites used.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
שער הקרבן – there they would bring in the Holy of Holies whose slaughter was in the north.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
In the east was the Nicanor’s Gate, and it had two small gates, one to the right and one to the left. In the east was Nicanor’s Gate, named after Nicanor who according to legend brought the gates from Egypt. Nicanor’s gates were surrounded by two smaller gates that were included in the tally of thirteen gates.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
שער הנשים – for in it, the women would enter to lay their hands on their sacrifice, according to the words of Rabbi Yosi who said that women lay their hands optionally, but according to Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Shimon, to stand near their sacrifice (see Talmud Eruvin 96b, Rosh Hashanah 13a and Hullin 85a).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shekalim
There were also two gates in the west which had no name. The western gates were infrequently used and hence had no special name.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
שער השיר – through that path they would bring in the musical instruments.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
שבו יצא יכניה בגלותו – when he when to the Temple to prostrate and to get permission when he went to Babylonia in the Diaspora, and he left through the path at that gate.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
שער ניקנור – it is explained in Yoma 38a in the chapter: “The officer said to them”/אמר להם שממונה (i.e., the Prefect over the Priests).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shekalim
פשפשין – small gates within the larger gates and even they are from the count/number of thirteen gates, and even though the gate leading to the room (in the Temple) in which the fire is perpetually maintained (see Tractate Tamid, Chapter 1, Mishnah 1 and Tractate Middot, Chapter 1, Mishnah 1, as well as Tractate Shabbat Chapter 1, Mishnah 11), also had a wicket, it was not considered because it was the smallest of them all, but the others were all slightly larger, and these of our Mishnah, of the thirteen gates, we establish in the Gemara in the Jerusalem Talmud like Abba Shaul the son of Hanan, but the Sages state that there were seven gates in the courtyard, but they hold that these thirteen prostrations correspond to the thirteen breaches made by the Grecian kings in the courtyard (see Tractate Middot, Chapter 2, Mishnah 3), and when the Hasmonean kings rose up and defeated them and repaired the breaches, they established thirteen sites of prostration corresponding to every breach that had been repaired.
