Middos, Chapter 5, Mishnah 4. The chapter has been mapping out the Azarah and its chambers. Having described the three rooms on the southern side, the Mishnah now turns to the northern side of the courtyard and lists the three chambers found there, together with what each one was used for.
"Shebbatzafon": the three chambers in the north were Lishkat HaEtz, the Chamber of Wood; Lishkat HaGolah, the Chamber of the Exile; and Lishkat HaGazit, the Chamber of Hewn Stone. The Mishnah now takes them one at a time.
Lishkat HaEtz
Regarding the first chamber the Mishnah records a striking admission: "Amar Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov, shachachti meh hayta meshameshet." Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov said that he had forgotten what this room served for. Abba Shaul offers an identification: "Lishkat Kohen Gadol," it was the chamber of the Kohen Gadol. This is where he would reside during the week leading up to Yom HaKippurim, while he prepared himself for the avodah of that day.
"Vehi hayta achorei shetehen": this chamber appeared to stand behind the other two. Most people entered the courtyard from the eastern side, and from that vantage point the Chamber of Wood was set back behind its two neighbors. "Vegag sheloshtan shaveh": the roofs of all three chambers were built at one and the same height.
Lishkat HaGolah
The second of the three chambers is Lishkat HaGolah. The Mishnah explains the name: "sham haya bor kavua," a permanent cistern was located there. It had been dug by those who came up out of the galut at the time when the second Beit Hamikdash was being erected, and their return from exile is what gave the room its title. Over the mouth of the pit stood a wheel, "vehagalgal natun alav," a pulley by which a bucket could be let down and hauled back up full. "Umisham maspikin mayim": from this single place they provided all the water needed throughout the Azarah.
Lishkat HaGazit
Now the Mishnah reaches the best known of the rooms. "Sham hayta Sanhedrei Gedolah": in this chamber the Great Sanhedrin, the supreme tribunal of the nation, "shel Yisrael yoshevet," convened. Its seventy one judges took their places there on Har Habayit and ruled on the matters brought before them. The word gazit means stone that has been quarried and squared, and the room was built of such dressed stone out of respect for the dayanim who sat in it.
"Vedanah et hakehunah": among the responsibilities of this court was judging matters of the kehunah. Kohanim and leviim who came forward to begin their service had first to pass before the Sanhedrin, which verified their standing. Their ancestry was traced, and they were checked as well for physical blemishes, so that the court could establish that each candidate was ra'uy, fit, to take up the avodah.
What followed depended on the findings. "Vekohen shenimtza bo pesul": where a defect was uncovered in a kohen's family, he would clothe himself in black and cover his head in black, "lovesh shechorim umit'atef shechorim," black being the garb of a man who bows to the verdict against him, and then, "veyotzeh veholech lo," he would take his leave of the Mikdash and go off. That was the rule for a flaw of yichus. A kohen held back only by a bodily blemish was not sent out; he remained inside the Beit Hamikdash and was given work there, going through the firewood to confirm that none of the logs were worm eaten.
"Veshelo nimtza bo pesul": a kohen in whom nothing disqualifying came to light dressed in white, "lovesh levanim umit'atef levanim," clothing himself and winding a white covering about his head, meaning that he put on the bigdei kehunah. "Nichnas umeshamesh im echav hakohanim": he then went in and took up the avodah together with his brother kohanim.
A Day of Celebration
The Mishnah ends with what was done on a day when not one of the kohanim examined turned out to be unfit. "Veyom tov hayu osim": such a day was kept as a celebration, with thanks given to Hashem that the offspring of Aharon HaKohen had been found free of any taint. "Vechach hayu omrim," and these were the words they would recite:
"Baruch HaMakom, baruch Hu" (praised be Hashem, praised be He), "shelo nimtza pesul" (for no flaw was uncovered) "bezar'o shel Aharon" (in the seed of Aharon). "U'baruch Hu shebachar be'Aharon u'vevanav, la'amod lesharet lifnei Hashem beVeit Kodshei HaKodashim."
The closing half of the blessing acknowledges Him for having singled out Aharon along with his children, appointing them to take their place and minister in the presence of Hashem within the House of Kodshei HaKodashim. Two causes for joy are joined together here, and the kohanim celebrated them as one: the unblemished state of their family line, and the very fact that Aharon and his descendants had been chosen for this service.
Hadran alach Masechet Middot.