Judaism Primer - Torah.org

3 Weeks

There were seven entrances, or Sha'arim, to the Ezras Yisroel (Main Courtyard). If you don't believe me, it even says so in the Mishna (Midos 1, 4)!

On the other hand, Mishna 6 in the second chapter of Midos tells us that there were thirteen entrances. So what do you do? Who do you believe?

As usual, there are various approaches to choose from, but we will stick with that of Rebbainu Tam (Kesubos 106a) who says that there were only seven major gates (measuring ten Amos wide by twenty amos tall), but there were also six more minor entrances. The Mishna at the beginning of Midos is concerned only with the big ones...

What were the gates? Here we go:

Along the northern side of the Azarah, the westernmost gate was Sha'ar Hanitzotz (gate of the spark). To its east was the Sha'ar Hakorbon through which was brought most of the animals to be used in the Temple service. There were at least 32 steps leading up to this gate (just imagine dragging all those cows and sheep up the stairs!). Further east was the Sha'ar Hanashim (women's gate - one of the smaller gates) and finally, the Bais Hamoked.

Now, to the south side: From the west, there was the Sha'ar Ha-eliyon (another small gate). Eastward was the Sha'ar Hadelek. East again was the Sha'ar Habechoros and finally the Sha'ar Hamayim.

Ok. That's eight. Now there was the main entrance on the eastern wall, the Sha'ar Hanikanor, and two smaller entrances to either side of nikanor. Eleven.

On the west wall of the courtyard, were two small unnamed gates. Thirteen gates - seven large and six small.

Rabbi Boruch Clinton teaches at the Ottawa Torah Institute yeshiva high school and Machon Sarah high school for girls (both in Ottawa, Canada). You may reach him with comments and questions at bclinton@torah.org.

You can now read some of Rabbi Clinton's essays on Torah life at http://www.ncf.ca/~es625/essays

You can also buy his collection of essays on the Book of Shmuel (Samuel) in printed form at www.lulu.com/marbitzmedia