Middos, Chapter 2, Mishnah 1. The first chapter took us through the guard posts, the gates and the watchmen of the Beit Hamikdash. Now the Mishnah steps back and gives us the overall picture: the dimensions of Har HaBayit itself, and how the open space inside its walls was divided.
Har HaBayit was a square, five hundred amot by five hundred amot, and all four sides were enclosed by a wall. Picture that square. The Beit Hamikdash stood somewhere inside it, but it was not planted in the center. It sat closer to the northwest corner. The result is that a great deal of open ground was left over, and that leftover ground was not distributed evenly. Within it stood many chambers, offices and rooms serving the needs of the Mikdash, and here too the sides were not equal to one another. That inequality is what our Mishnah comes to record.
The Measurement of the Mountain
The Mishnah opens with the measure of the mountain: "Har HaBayit," the Temple Mount, "haya chamesh me'ot amah" (it was five hundred amot) "al chamesh me'ot amah" (by five hundred amot). A perfect square, five hundred by five hundred, and the count is taken from the inner face of the walls that ringed it.
Which Side Had the Most Room
"Rubo min hadarom." The widest belt of unbuilt ground, running from the outer walls of the Azarah out to the boundary wall of the mountain, lay on the southern side. What made the south deserve the space? It was the direction from which the bulk of the people ascended, and such crowds needed room to move.
"Sheni lo min hamizrach," next in size came the eastern side, with two hundred and thirteen amot. That order follows from the first: a person coming up on the south would turn to his right and continue around toward the east, so the eastern stretch bore a heavy flow of people as well.
"Shelishi lo min hatzafon." Third in size was the northern side, one hundred and fifteen amot up to the wall.
"Me'uto min hama'arav." The smallest open area of all was on the west. The reason is not crowding but honor. The Kodesh Hakodashim stood at the western end, and the Shechinah rested there. We did not want people strolling about in that direction, and we did not want a broad open plaza inviting traffic. That side was kept, so to speak, as the private area, out of reverence for Hashem who dwelled there.
More Space, More Use
"Makom shehaya rov midato" (wherever the measure was the greater) "sham haya rov tashmisho" (there its use was the greater). The rooms and administrative quarters were not placed in equal number on all four sides. Where the mountain left a wide belt of ground, that is where buildings rose and where the work of the Mikdash was actually carried on; where the belt was narrow, there was correspondingly little going on.