Menachot

They pressed against the curtain and bulged out as the two breasts of a woman, as it is said, My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh, that lieth betwixt my breasts.1 But whence do we know that the staves lay along the breadth of the ark? Perhaps they lay along the length of the ark? — Rab Judah answered, Because in the space of one cubit and a half two men could not stand.2 And whence do we know that four persons carried it?3 — Because it is written, And the Kohathites4 [which are at least] two, the bearers of the sanctuary4 again two,5 set forward.4 Our Rabbis taught: King Solomon made ten tables, as it is written, He made also ten tables and placed them in the Temple, five on the right side and five on the left.6 If you were to say that five were on the right side of the [Temple] entrance7 and five on the left side of the entrance, then we should have tables placed on the south side [of the Temple], but the Torah says, And thou shalt put the table on the north side.8 You must therefore say that [the table] of Moses stood in the middle with five [tables] to the right of it and five to the left of it.9 Our Rabbis taught: King Solomon also made ten candlesticks, as it is written, And he made the ten candlesticks of gold according to the ordinance concerning them; and he set them in the Temple, five on the right hand and five on the left.10 If you were to say that five were on the right side of the [Temple] entrance and five on the left side, we should then have candlesticks set on the north side [of the Temple], but the Torah says, And the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle towards the south.11 You must therefore say that [the candlestick] of Moses stood in the middle with five [candlesticks] to the right of it and five to the left of it. One [Baraitha] states that [the tables] stood in the inner half of the Sanctuary, whilst another [Baraitha] states that they stood in the inner third of the Sanctuary! — This, however, presents no difficulty, for the one [Baraitha]12 includes the Holy of Holies in the term ‘Sanctuary’, whilst the other13 does not include the Holy of Holies in the term ‘Sanctuary’.14 Our Rabbis taught: [The tables] were placed [lengthwise] from east to west. So Rabbi. R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon says, From north to south. What is Rabbi's reason? — He derives it from the candlestick: as the candlestick stood [with its branches] towards east and west, so these stood from east to west. But whence do we know this of the candlestick itself? — Since of the western lamp15 the verse says, Aaron shall order it . . . before the Lord,16 it follows that all the others were not before the Lord; now if one were to assume [that the candlestick stood with its branches] towards north and south, all the lamps would then be before the Lord.17 And what is the reason for the view of R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon? — He derives it from the ark: as the ark stood [lengthwise in the direction of] north and south, so these also stood [lengthwise] from north to south. And why does not Rabbi derive it from the ark? — One may infer [an object that stood] outside18 from [another that stood] outside, but one may not infer [that which stood] outside from [that which stood] inside.19 And why does not R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon derive it from the candlestick? — He maintains that even the candlestick stood [with its branches extending] towards north and south. But is it not written, Aaron and his sons shall order it . . . [before the Lord]?20 — They were all made to face [the middle lamp].21 For it has been taught:22 The seven lamps shall give light in front of the candlestick;23 this teaches that they were made to face the middle lamp. R. Nathan said, This shows that the middle one is specially prized.24 It is quite clear, according to him who said [that the tables stood lengthwise] from east to west, to see how the ten [tables]25 were placed in the twenty cubits;26 but according to him who said [that they stood lengthwise] from north to south, how could the ten tables be placed in twenty cubits?27 Furthermore,28 how could the priests enter [the Holy of Holies]?29 Furthermore, we would then have five tables on the south side!30 And further, where did the table of Moses stand?31 — But according to your argument [this question could] also [be raised] against him who said [that they stood lengthwise] from east to west: Where did the table of Moses stand?32 But in fact [there is no difficulty] for you have assumed, have you not, that they stood in one row? [In reality, however,] they stood in two rows.33 have been only the space of one cubit and a half between the staves, and within this space two men could not have walked side by side carrying the ark. it, one carrying the two ends of the staves on one side, and the other the two ends of the staves on the other side. up by the Holy of Holies and in the space of the next twenty cubits stood the tables. Now these latter twenty cubits were half the Sanctuary space (if one excludes from this term the Holy of Holies) or a third of the Sanctuary space (if one includes in that term the Holy of Holies). concluded that the candlestick stood with its branches extended towards east and west. branches extending to the north and to the south all the lamps alike would be before the Lord. Sabbath were read by three persons; and as ‘the middle was specially prized’ the second reader was privileged to read four verses whilst the other two read three verses each. V. also Tosaf. s.v. hgmnta. were placed head to head in one long line, thus forming one table measuring twenty cubits by one cubit. Now although it is impossible to place lengthwise an object twenty cubits long in a space exactly twenty cubits long or wide, since there was more space available in the Sanctuary it was of small consequence if the table protruded a little beyond the twenty cubits allotted to it. room for all eleven tables. between the two rows.