Yoma 103

למיעל להדיא ורבי יוסי אמר לך חביבין ישראל שלא הצריכן הכתוב לשליח

to go straight ahead [towards the seat of the Divine Presence].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' on the assumption that they were placed between east and west, so that he could walk unhandicapped along the north wall towards the Holy of Holies, the suggestion is offered that it would not be in accord with the reverence due to that sacred place for the high priest to walk straight towards it, 'feasting his eyes all the time on that most awe-inspiring place, through the opening through which he was to enter, hence R. Meir s view.');">¹</span> And R'Jose? - Israel is so beloved that Scripture does not wish to burden their messenger.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The high priest, as representative of Israel, is permitted to avoid the weary detour between table and altar and to proceed straight along the north wall towards the Holy of Holies.');">²</span>

ור' יהודה נמי ניעול בין מנורה לכותל משחרי מאניה

As to R'Judah. let him enter between the candlestick and the wall! - His garments would become blackened.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' From the smoke (soot) of the candlestick on the wall.');">³</span>

א"ר נתן אמה טרקסין לא הכריעו בו חכמים אי כלפנים אי כלחוץ

R'Nathan said: Concerning the 'cubit of partition'. the Sages did not decide as to whether its sanctity was that of the Holy of Holies or of the Holy Place outside of it.

מתקיף לה רבינא מ"ט אילימא משום דכתיב (מלכים א ו, ב) והבית אשר בנה המלך שלמה לה' ששים אמה ארכו ועשרים רחבו ושלשים אמה קומתו וכתיב (מלכים א ו, יז) וארבעים באמה היה הבית הוא ההיכל לפני וכתיב (מלכים א ו, כ) ולפני הדביר עשרים אמה אורך ועשרים אמה רוחב ועשרים אמה קומתו ולא ידעינן אמה טרקסין אי מהני עשרים ואי מהני ארבעים

To this Rabina demurred: What was their reason? Shall we say because it is written: And the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, the length thereof was three score cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' l Kings VI, 2.');">⁴</span>

ודילמא לא מהני עשרין ולא מהני ארבעין וחללא קא חשיב כותלים לא קא חשיב תדע דכל היכא דקא חשיב כותלים חשיב ליה לדידיה

[Also] it is written: And the house, that is, the Temple before [the Sanctuary]. was forty cubits long<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 17.');">⁵</span>

דתנן ההיכל מאה על מאה ברום מאה כותל אולם חמש והאולם אחת עשרה כותל ההיכל שש וארכו ארבעים אמה ואמה טרקסין וכ' אמה בית קדשי הקדשים כותל ההיכל שש והתא שש וכותל התא חמש

and it is further written: And before the Sanctuary which was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I Kings VI, 20.');">⁶</span> - so that we do not know whether the [space of] a cubit of the partition was to be deducted from the twenty or the forty, - perhaps it is to be deducted from neither the twenty nor the forty, the account referring only to the free spaces, not to the walls.

אלא קדושתיה אי כלפנים אי כלחוץ

As a proof [is the fact] that whenever the walls are mentioned, they are mentioned separately, for we have learnt: The Sanctuary was a hundred cubits square and a hundred cubits in height. The wall of the Ulam<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The hall leading into the interior of the Temple.');">⁷</span>

והיינו דאמר רבי יוחנן בעי יוסף איש הוצל (מלכים א ו, יט) ודביר בתוך הבית מפנימה הכין לתתן שם את ארון ברית ה' איבעיא להו היכי קאמר קרא

was five [cubits thick] and the Ulam eleven. The wall of the Sanctuary six, and its interior forty cubits, the partition one cubit and the Holy of Holies twenty cubits, the wall of the Sanctuary six, the cell six and the wall of the cell five!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Mid. IV. 6 and 7. Hence the question above is answered.');">⁸</span>

ודביר בתוך הבית מפנימה הכין לתתן שם או דילמא הכי קאמר ודביר בתוך הבית מפנימה

- Rather, the question is whether the sanctity of the partition is as that of the inner part [the Holy of Holies], or the outer part, and this is as R'Johanan reported: Joseph of Huzal asked: [It is written], And a debir<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.V. 'Sanctuary:' here taken to denote the space between the partition dividing the Holy from the Holy of Holies.');">⁹</span> in the midst of the house from within he prepared to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I Kings VI, 19.');">¹⁰</span>

ומי מספקא ליה והתניא איסי בן יהודה אומר חמש מקראות בתורה אין להן הכרע

The question was asked [in the Academy]: What does Scripture mean to say? [Does it mean] 'a debir in the midst of the house; from within he prepared to place the ark there'; or 'a debir in the midst of the house from within'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' According to the first interpretation the cubit partition would be excluded then from the Holy of Holies. Does the 'from within' belong to the first part of the verse, referring to the debir or to the second interpretation and refer to the Holy of Holies?');">¹¹</span> - But could they have any doubt? Surely it was taught: Issi B'Judah said: There are five verses in the Torah [the grammatical construction of] which is undecided: