פירוש על מדות 2:6

וראשי פספסין (the tops of the flag-stones in the pavement) – the tops of the beams that protrude and come out from the wall to distinguish between the Israelite Courtyard and the Priest’s Courtyard.

Introduction Our mishnah is mostly about the Court of Israel, which was a smaller court leading from the Court of Women to the Court of the Priests.

מעלה היתה שם (a step) – in the Israelite Courtyard.

There were chambers underneath the Court of Israel which opened into the Court of Women, where the Levites used to keep lyres and lutes and cymbals and all kinds of musical instruments. Underneath the Court of Israel there were chambers where the Levites would deposit their instruments.

וגבוהה אמה – and its length was as the length of he entire Courtyard.

The Court of Israel was a hundred and thirty-five cubits in length by eleven in breadth. Similarly the Court of the Priests was a hundred and thirty-five cubits in length by eleven in breadth. Both of these courtyards were the same breadth as the Court of Women, but they were much shorter, extending only eleven cubits. In a sense they were just strips.

והדוכן (platform) – of the Levites is built upon it and is made like a kind of portico/balcony, and the height of the platform is a cubit-and-a-half.

And a row of mosaic stones separated the Court of Israel from the Court of the Priests. There was a partition separating the Court of Israel from the Court of Priests, for Israelites would not typically go into the Court of Priests. They would enter only when they were going to either slaughter a sacrifice or lay their hands upon it, or wave it.

ובו שלש מעלות של חצי חצי אמה – that they ascend upon them to the platform.

Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says: there was a step a cubit high on which a platform was placed, and it had three steps each of half a cubit in height. In this way the Court of the Priests was made two and a half cubits higher than that of Israel. According to Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob, there was a step with a platform on it between the two courts. On this platform the Levites would stand and sing when the tamid sacrifice was being offered (see Tamid 7:3). The Court of Priests was thus slightly higher than the Court of Israel.

כל העזרה – from the beginning of the Israelite Court until eleven cubits is a free space that was behind the House of the cover of the Holy Ark.

The whole of the Court was a hundred and eighty-seven cubits in length by a hundred and thirty-five in breadth. The entire Courtyard in which the Temple was located was 187 cubits long. This included the entire area of the Court of Priests, and then the area of the Temple, all the way past the Holy of Holies and to the western side of the Temple.

על רוחב – from north to south.

And thirteen prostrations were made there. There were thirteen places to prostrate, as we learned in mishnah three. According to this opinion, the thirteen places of prostration were at the places where the Soreg had been broken through by the Greeks.

שלשה עשר שערים – as he considers them and then moves on. And the one who states that there were seven gates in the Temple courtyard (see Tractate Middot, Chapter 1, Mishnah 4) gives the reason for the thirteen prostrations corresponding to the thirteen breaches that the Grecian kings made in the Soreg/one of the approaches of the Temple fortification, as we stated above in our Chapter (see Mishnah 3). And all of our Mishnah is explained in the first chapter [of Tractate Middot].

Abba Yose ben Hanan says: they were made facing the thirteen gates. On the south beginning from the west there were the upper gate (1), the gate of burning (2), the gate of the firstborn (3), and the water gate (4). And why was it called the water gate? Because they brought in through it the pitcher of water for libation on the festival. Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says: in it the water welled up, and in the time to come from there it will come out from under the threshold of the Temple. Corresponding to them in the north beginning in the west were the gate of Yehoniah (5), the gate of the offering (6), the women's gate (7), the gate of song (8). Why was it called the gate of Yehoniah? Because Yehoniah went forth into captivity through it. On the east was the gate of Nicanor (9); it had two doors, one on its right and one on its left (10 + 11). There were further two gates in the west which had no special name (12 + 13). Abba Yose ben Hanan disagrees with the anonymous mishnah found in 1:4-5, who held that there were seven gates around the Temple Court. Abba Yose ben Hanan says that there were thirteen, and at each they would prostrate. He now lists these gates. Some of them are repeats of those listed above. The upper gate: Was called “upper” because it was at the highest point on the Temple Mount. The gate of the first-borns: Through which they would bring the first-born animals to be slaughtered, for they can be slaughtered on the south. The water gate: The mishnah gives two reasons why it was called the water gate. The first is practical through this gate the water was brought in for the water libation on Sukkot. The second is more messianic: Ezekiel 47:1-2 prophesies that in the time of redemption water will burst forth from the Temple. This water will come forth from this gate. Yehoniah’s gate: Yehoniah, as will be explained later in the mishnah, is the king who was exiled to Babylonia in II Kings 24:15. He went out, according to legend, through this gate. Commentators say that this is the same gate that is called “the gate of kindling” in 1:4. The gate of the offering: Through here they would bring in any sacrifice that needed to be slaughtered on the north side. The gate of women: Women who needed/wanted to lay their hands on their sacrifices could go in through this gate. The gate of song: Through which the Levites would bring in their musical instruments. Commentators identify this gate with the gate of the sparks in 1:5. Nicanor’s gate: As we have already learned, this gate was named after Nicanor who brought the gates from Egypt. On each side of the gate was a small door, and these doors were included in the overall count. Thus Nicanor’s gate gets credit for being three gates. The no-name gates: These gates were behind the Temple and were rarely used and therefore had no names.