Professor Kaufman made it clear that it would not be possible to identify the location of the Holy Temple without the knowledge of the Jewish writings. They left no room for error because their purpose was to be so accurate that the Holy Temple could be rebuilt. If a theorist is not quoting from them, they don’t know that they’re not qualified to postulate the location, along with the size and shape of the Temple’s many courts, gates, buildings, and steps.
For this reason, Kaufman scoured the Earth for the oldest copies of Tractate Middot. He copied, translated, published, and secured copies at major universities worldwide, which can be viewed online here.
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (/ˈmɪʃnə/; Hebrew: מִשְׁנָה, “study by repetition”, from the verb shanahשנה, or “to study and review”, also “secondary”)[1] is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. It is also the first major work of rabbinic literature, with the oldest surviving material dating to the 6th to 7th centuries CE.[2][3]
The term “Mishnah” originally referred to a method of teaching by presenting topics in a systematic order, as contrasted with Midrash, which followed the order of the Bible. As a written compilation, the order of the Mishnah is by subject matter and includes a much broader selection of halakhic subjects and discusses individual subjects more thoroughly than the Midrash.
The Mishnah consists of six orders (sedarim, singular sederסדר), each containing 7–12 tractates (masechtot, singular masechetמסכת; lit. “web”), 63 in total. Each masechet is divided into chapters (peraqim, singular pereq) and then paragraphs (mishnayot, singular mishnah). In this last context, the word mishnah means a single paragraph of the work, i.e. the smallest unit of structure, leading to the use of the plural, “Mishnayot“, for the whole work.
Because of the division into six orders, the Mishnah is sometimes called Shas (an acronym for Shisha Sedarim – the “six orders”), although that term is more often used for the Talmud as a whole.
The six orders are:
Zeraim (“Seeds”), dealing with prayer and blessings, tithes and agricultural laws (11 tractates)
Moed (“Festival”), pertaining to the laws of the Sabbath and the Festivals (12 tractates)
Nashim (“Women”), concerning marriage and divorce, some forms of oaths and the laws of the nazirite (7 tractates)
Nezikin (“Damages”), dealing with civil and criminal law, the functioning of the courts and oaths (10 tractates)
Kodashim(“Holy things”), regarding sacrificial rites, the Temple, and the dietary laws (11 tractates) and
Tohorot (“Purities”), pertaining to the laws of purity and impurity, including the impurity of the dead, food purity, and bodily purity (12 tractates).
The acronym “Z’MaN NaKaT” is a popular mnemonic for these orders.[7] In each order (with the exception of Zeraim), tractates are arranged from biggest (in number of chapters) to smallest. (Mishnah. (2024, June 6). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishnah)
Tractate
[Tractate] A masekhet (Hebrew: מַסֶּכֶת, Sephardic: /mɑːˈsɛxɛt/, Ashkenazic: /mɑːˈsɛxɛs/; plural masekhtotמַסֶּכְתּוֹת) is an organizational element of Talmudic literature that systematically examines a subject, referred to as a tractate in English. A tractate/masekhet consists of chapters (perakim; singular: פרקperek or pereq). (Masekhet. (2023, November 1). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masekhet)
Kodashim
Kodashim (Hebrew: קׇדָשִׁים, romanized: Qāḏāšim, lit.‘holy things’) is the fifth of the six orders, or major divisions, of the Mishnah,Tosefta and the Talmud, and deals largely with the services within the Temple in Jerusalem, its maintenance and design, the korbanot, or sacrificial offerings that were offered there, and other subjects related to these topics, as well as, notably, the topic of kosher slaughter.
This Seder (order, or division) of the Mishnah is known as Kodashim (“sacred things” or “sanctities”), because it deals with subjects connected with Temple service and ritual slaughter of animals (shehitah). The term kodashim, in the Biblical context, applies to the sacrifices, the Temple and its furnishings, as well as the priests who carried out the duties and ceremonies of its service; and it is with these holy things, places and people that Kodashim is mainly concerned. The title Kodashim is apparently an abbreviation of Shehitat Kodashim (“the slaughter of sacred animals”) since the main, although not the only subject of this order is sacrifices.
The topics of this Seder are primarily the sacrifices of animals, birds, and meal offerings, the laws of bringing a sacrifice, such as the sin offering and the guilt offering, and the laws of misappropriation of sacred property. In addition, the order contains a description of the Second Temple(tractateMiddot), and a description and rules about the daily sacrifice service in the Temple (tractateTamid).(Kodashim. (2023, December 26). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodashim)
Middot
Tractate Middot (Hebrew: מִדּוֹת, lit. “Measurements”) is the tenth tractate of Seder Kodashim (“Order of Holies”) of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. This tractate describes the dimensions and the arrangement of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and the Second Temple buildings and courtyards, various gates, the altar of sacrifice and its surroundings, and the places where the Priests and Levites kept watch in the Temple.
A stone warning inscription found on the Temple Mount accords with the description in Middot of the purpose of the fence (soreg) on the Mount.
It states that the Temple Courtyard on the mount measured 135 cubits (amot) from north to south and 187 cubits from east to west and was surrounded by walls. Towards the front of the Temple Courtyard on the mount, and surrounding the Temple building, known as the Sanctuary (Azarah), was a low fence (soreg) designating the area beyond which a non-Jew, or a Jew who was ritually impure because of contact with a corpse (tumat met), could not proceed.[1][3]
The main entrance to the Temple Courtyard was in the EAST and the Temple Sanctuary (Azarah) stood in the Temple Courtyard. THERE WAS A LARGE OPEN AREA BETWEEN THE EASTERN GATE OF THE COURTYARD AND THE SANCTUARY. The Sanctuary area was divided into THREE AREAS, the first upon entering the Courtyard, was the Ezrat Nashim, the WOMEN’S COURT, separated from the Ezrat Yisrael, the ISRAELITE’S COURT by fifteen steps and “NICANOR’S GATE”, then the section containing the OUTER ALTAR (Middot 5:1) and finally, the TEMPLE BUILDING itself.[3]
The tractate describes how the Temple was divided into THREE HALLS: the Ulam (Antechamber), the Kodesh or Heichal (Inner Sanctuary); and the Kodesh Hakedoshim, the Holy of Holies. The Kohen Gadol (high priest) entered the Holy of Holies only once a year on the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur. During the First Temple era, the Ark of the Covenant containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments and the Torah scroll written by Moses is said to have stood in the Holy of Holies. During the Second Temple era, the Holy of Holies was empty except for the large stone called the Foundation Stone (Evven Hashtiya) on which the Ark had been placed.[3]
The golden Altar, the Menorah, and the Shulchan (Table of the Showbread) stood in the Heichal. This was where the kohanim conducted the daily service related to these holy utensils, such as burning the daily incense offering, lighting the Menorah, and the weekly replacement of the bread.[3]
Chapter 1 lists the places where the Priests and Levites kept watch in the Temple at night and describes the gates of the Temple Mount and the inner courts of the Temple building, and in particular, the chamber where the priests slept at night and a chamber in which the Hasmoneans preserved altar-stones from an earlier time:[1][4]
The first part of the chapter describes how priests kept guard in three places and the Levites in twenty-one, how these watches were controlled by the Captain of the Temple (Ish Har Ha-bayit), and the punishments meted out for falling asleep at the watch. The “place of the hearth” (bet ha-moḳed), a large hall with an arched ceiling is also described, where at night the older priests rested on stone benches around the walls and younger priests slept on the floor.[1][4]
The guarding of the Temple is similarly described in tractate Tamid and follows a commandment in the Torah to guard the Temple (Num. 18:1–5, Num. 1:53, Num. 3:38). According to several commentators (Rambam; Rash; Bartenura), this was not for protection as the gates were locked at night, but to enhance the splendor of the building, just as royal palaces are watched by a ceremonial guard. According to other commentators, the Temple was guarded by day as well for this reason (Hamefaresh, Ravad and Rosh).[6]
There is also a description in this chapter of the gates to the Temple Mount; of note is the description of a representation of Susa, the capital of the ancient Persian Empire over the eastern gate of the Temple Mount, and symbolic of Persian dominance over the Land of Israel at the time of the building of the Second Temple (circa 516 BCE).[1][4]
Chapter 2 provides the measurements of the Temple Mount and the buildings of the Sanctuary, including the courtyards, the chambers surrounding the courtyards that served various ritual and administrative purposes and the thirteen gates of the courtyard:
The Mishna states that the Temple Mount covered an area of 500 square cubits (amot) surrounded by a massive wall; this is in accordance with the description in the Book of Ezekiel (Ezek. 42:20). The height and breadth of the steps and of the gates to the Temple are also given and all the doors except for those of the “gate of Nicanor” are described as covered with gold.[3][4][6]
The tractate gives the measurements of the Women’s Court and the Israelites’ Court inside the Sanctuary and describes the how these two courtyards were connected by a flight of fifteen steps, allegorically corresponding to the fifteen “Songs of Ascent” in Psalms (Ps. 120 – 134 ); a choir of kohanim stood on these steps while the Levites played instruments to provide musical accompaniment to their singing. The Mishna then describes the structures surrounding the courtyards, including room in which the Levites kept their musical instruments.[4][6]
Chapter 3 describes the altar for offerings of burnt sacrifices that stood in front of the Sanctuary and its surrounding area; the place on the north side of the altar for killing the sacrificial animals, the laver between the porch and the altar, and the golden grape-vine decorating the porch.[1][4]
The Mishna specifies that the stones of the altar had to be in their natural form and could not be shaped with an iron tool or changed in any way. The reason given (Middot 3:4) is that iron is used to make weapons which shorten human life, while the altar serves to prolong life by making amends for sin; it is therefore not appropriate to use this cause of harm in building the altar.[4]
Chapter 4 describes the Inner Sanctuary (Heichal) and the chambers surrounding it, along with its doors, chambers, steps.[1][4]
Chapter 5 provides further information regarding the Sanctuary and its chambers. It describes a hall built of square stones called Lishkat ha-Gazit, where the Great Sanhedrin met to determine matters concerning the priesthood.[1][4]
Historical context
Tractate Middot provides a description of the Temple as reconstructed by Herod in the late 1st century BCE and is based on the memory of sages who saw the Temple and gave an oral description of it to their disciples, after its destruction in 70 CE during the First Jewish–Roman War. One of the main sages reporting the details of the Temple in this tractate is Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob, a Tanna who lived during the 1st century CE. He is thought to have seen the Temple while it was still standing, and he may also have learned about its inner arrangements from his uncle who served in it.[7] The final redaction of the tractate by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi (135 – 217 CE) contains various traditions of other authorities and which are also cited in the Babylonian Talmud tractate Yoma (16a-17a) and the Jerusalem Talmud Yoma (2: 3, 39).[2]
Middot, like tractate Tamid, differs from most of the other tractates of the Mishna in that it is primarily a descriptive, rather than a halachic (legal) text. Maimonides, in his introduction to this tractate, notes that the purpose of this tractate was to elucidate details for the rebuilding of the temple…The Roman-Jewish historian, Josephus, also provides detailed descriptions of the Temple in his work “The Jewish War“ and his account generally accords with the description in this tractate although with some differences in detail. Both the rabbis and Josephus agree that it was a remarkable building but the purpose of the rabbis’ description was to provide information so that subsequent generations could rebuild it, and Josephus was writing to impress his non-Jewish audiences.[8] (Middot (Talmud). (2021, August 6). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middot_(Talmud))
Tamid
Tamid (Hebrew: תָמִיד, romanized: tāmiḏ, lit.‘daily offerings’) is the ninth tractate in Kodashim, which is the fifth of the six orders of the Mishnah, Tosefta, and the Talmud. The main subject of Tamid is the morning and evening burnt offerings (Exodus 29:38–42; Numbers 28:3–8), but it also deals with other Temple ceremonies. The tractate includes information about the Temple Service from sages who had been present at the Temple and witnessed the service. This tractate contains few disagreements between the sages and few exegetical derivations. It is written as a historical description of the service.[1] (Tamid. (2024, March 4). In Wikipedia.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamid)
