To the west of the Women's Courtyard lay the main courtyard (see the map). The courtyard's forty-Amah-high walls enclosed most of the buildings and objects that made the Temple important.

The Ezras Yisrael's most noticeable structure was the Ulam (antechamber, if that makes it any more understandable). Behind that was the Heichal (hearth). These two adjoining buildings towered over the rest of the area - being more than twice the height of anything else in sight.

We'll get to all that. But right now, we're interested in the courtyard's general layout. In amongst all the confusion of the Azarah (courtyard) lay the Ezras Yisrael. Ezras Yisrael is translated as "Courtyard of the Common Jew" - "common," as opposed to priests. The Ezras Yisrael was rectangular and it was bounded from the outside by the outer walls of the Azarah and by the walls of the Heichal from the inside. In all, the Azarah measured 187 Amos from east to west and 135 from north to south.

Technically, the area that had the sanctity of Ezras Yisrael filled only the first eleven Amos to the west of the Women's Courtyard wall and the areas to the north, south and west of the Heichal. The eleven Amos from the Ezras Yisrael to the altar (called Ezras Kohanim) along with the space of the altar itself (from its south-facing ramp all the way to the northern wall of the Azarah) were normally out of bounds to "common" Jews (but then, who's a common Jew?).

It was in this space (in particular the easternmost strip) that much of the business of the Bais Hamikdash was done. The area boasted seven major buildings. To be more precise, it had two clusters of three buildings each and the Bais Hamoked further west along the northern wall.

The cluster in the Ezras Yisrael's south-east corner consisted of the salt chamber (for storing the salt used in the Avodah), the Parve Chamber (no, it had nothing to do with milk-free diets) and the washing chamber (for cleaning out the entrails of slaughtered animals). Each of these chambers was (according to Tosafos, Yoma 31a) built underground with stairways leading down from the floor of the Azarah.

On the roof of the Parve chamber was a Mikvah used by the high priest on Yom Kippur (for his final four immersions). Needless to say, there were curtains all around for privacy.

The north-east corner of the Azarah contained the Lishkas Hagazis (the supreme court chamber), the wood chamber (so named, according to some, because of the wood used to build it. It was also called the Palhedrin and served as the high priest's private chamber) and the exiles' chamber which housed a water well built by the returning exiles.

Separating the eastern section of the Ezras Yisrael from the Ezras Kohanim to its west were three steps. It was on these steps (called the Duchan) that an overflow crowd of Levites would stand while involved in their musical service. The main group of Levites were located on the twelve stairs between the altar and the Ulam (antechamber).

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

Copyright © 2000 by Rabbi Boruch Clinton and Project Genesis, Inc.