Menachos, Chapter 11, Mishnah 5. In this section we continue our discussion of the Shulchan and the way the lechem hapanim was arranged upon it. The Shulchan was one of the vessels of the Beis HaMikdash, and it stood in the Kodesh, inside the Heichal building.
The three vessels in the Kodesh:
The incense altar (the golden altar) - in the center.
The Shulchan - to its right, on the north side, holding the twelve loaves of the lechem hapanim in two arrangements: two vertical columns of six loaves each.
The Menorah - to the left, as one faces the Kodesh HaKodashim, on the south side. The Menorah was kindled at the very least every night, and according to the Rambam twice a day.
It is worth looking at a picture of the Shulchan, since it was an intricate structure, and seeing it helps a great deal in understanding the words of the Mishnah.
The opinion of Rabbi Yehudah:
The Mishnah begins: "HaShulchan orko asarah v'rochbo chamishah" - the surface of the Shulchan was ten tefachim long and five tefachim wide. But does the verse itself not say that the Shulchan was one amah wide and two amos long? The answer is that our Tanna, Rabbi Yehudah, holds that the amos used to measure the vessels of the Mikdash were only five tefachim long. This is not the common opinion, but it is his consistent position throughout Shas. Accordingly, one amah by two amos means five tefachim by ten tefachim.
The Mishnah continues: "Lechem hapanim orko asarah v'rochbo chamishah" - the dimensions of the loaf are identical to the dimensions of the surface of the Shulchan. However, these are the measurements of the dough before it was folded, as we learned in the previous Mishnah. The dough was folded into a shape resembling the letter U: the flat base rested on the Shulchan, and from its two sides the walls rose upward - these are the "panim" - each two and a half tefachim high according to this Tanna.
It emerges that the length of the lechem hapanim before folding is ten tefachim, and after folding five tefachim remain in its base, while its width is five tefachim in either case. That is why we learned: "Nosen orko k'neged rochbo shel shulchan" - the length of the folded loaf, five tefachim, is placed against the width of the Shulchan, which is likewise five tefachim. "V'kofel tefachayim vachetzi mikan v'tefachayim vachetzi mikan" - the two sides of the U shape were folded upward, two and a half tefachim on each side. The folding was of course done before baking. Two and a half tefachim on one side and two and a half on the other, together with the five tefachim of the base, add up to ten tefachim.
"V'nimtza orko m'malei kol rochbo shel shulchan" - the length of the loaf, five tefachim, fills the entire width of the Shulchan. And since the two arrangements lay side by side, the area of each loaf is five by five, and the total surface of the Shulchan is ten by five. It emerges that the two arrangements occupied the Shulchan from end to end, leaving no free space on it for anything besides the bread. This is the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah.
The opinion of Rabbi Meir:
Rabbi Meir holds, consistent with his position throughout the Torah, that an amah is six tefachim, and this applies in the Mikdash as well. Accordingly, one amah by two amos means six tefachim by twelve tefachim. And since all agree that the lechem hapanim is ten by five before it is folded, the measurements do not fit exactly as they did according to Rabbi Yehudah.
And so we learned: "HaShulchan orko shneim asar v'rochbo shishah" - two amos of length are twelve tefachim, and one amah of width is six tefachim. "U'lechem hapanim orko asarah v'rochbo chamishah" - the measurements of the dough before folding remain as they were. Only that here the folding produced lower walls.
"Nosen orko keneged rochbo shel shulchan" - the length of the bread is laid along the width of the table and fills it. Since the table is six tefachim wide, the base of the loaf, lying flat, is six tefachim, and the walls rise only two tefachim on each side and not two and a half. Two plus two is four, and together with the six tefachim of the base that comes to ten. This is what we learned: "Vekofel tefachayim mikan utefachayim mikan".
"Utefachayim revach ba'emtza" - the width of the loaf is five tefachim, and the length of the table is twelve. Five and five come to ten, leaving two tefachim in the middle of the table, between the two stacks. This empty space was meant to let the wind blow between the two arrangements and to allow air to circulate between them, so that the bread would not become moldy.
The place of the bazichin - the view of Abba Shaul:
On the table lay two bazichin (bowls) that held the frankincense, and the question is where they were placed. According to Abba Shaul, they lay on the surface of the table itself, in those two spots of open space between the two stacks, between the two rows of bread.
The Sages challenged Abba Shaul from the verse, for the verse says "Venasata al hama'arechet levonah zakah" - and the usual meaning of "al" is above, on top of the arrangement and on top of the bread. How, then, can he say that the bazichin lay between them on the surface of the table?
Abba Shaul answered from the verses in the book of Bamidbar that deal with the arrangement of the camps of Israel and the twelve tribes, where it says "Ve'alav mateh Menasheh" - and it is obvious that the tribe of Menasheh did not stand on top of anyone, but rather alongside the other camps. So "al" and "alav" mean next to and beside. Therefore, even though the verse says that the frankincense is placed "al" the arrangement of bread, it means next to it and at its side.
The halachah does not follow Abba Shaul; rather, the bazichin were placed on top of the stacks of bread. And the halachah is also that the measurements of the table were six by twelve tefachim, like the view of Rabbi Meir.