Middos, Chapter 4, Mishnah 6. The final two mishnayot of this chapter turn our attention to the measurements of the Heichal itself, the building that contained the Kodesh, the Kodesh Kodashim, and most of the sacred utensils employed in the avodah. Our mishnah assembles that building from its base upward, one layer at a time, until the count arrives at its full height.
The mishnah begins with the totals. "VehaHeichal me'ah al me'ah": the floor plan of the building formed a square of one hundred amot by one hundred amot, and "al rum me'ah", its elevation likewise reached one hundred amot. Everything that follows itemizes where those hundred amot of height went.
From the foundation upward
"Ha'otem shesh amot": the otem was the solid base upon which the building and all its walls rested, and it accounted for six amot. "Vegovho arba'im amah": above the otem, the lower chamber of the Heichal measured forty amot from its floor up to its ceiling.
"Amah kiyur." Above that first story ran a stone ledge one amah thick, projecting inward into the room along all four walls. It is called the kiyur, meaning decoration, because it was overlaid in gold and worked with a beautiful design.
"Ve'amatayim beit dilfa": above that ledge lay thick wooden beams occupying two amot. The word dilfa expresses joining, and these beams were named for their task of binding the ceiling boards to one another.
"Ve'amah tikrah." One amah was taken up by the ceiling planks themselves. "Ve'amah ma'azivah." One further amah consisted of the plaster and stone laid over the planks, which formed the floor of the story above.
So the entire division between the first story and the second came to five amot:
- one amah of decorated ledge
- two amot of joining beams
- one amah of ceiling planks
- one amah of plaster flooring for the story above
"Vegovah shel aliyah arba'im amah": measured from its floor up to its ceiling, the story above added another forty amot. The mishnah then lists the identical five amot a second time. "Ve'amah kiyur": a gilded ledge of one amah. "Ve'amatayim beit dilfa": binding beams of two amot. "Ve'amah tikrah": ceiling boards of one amah. "Ve'amah ma'azivah": a final amah of plaster flooring. Crowning all of it was the sloped roof of the building.
The fence and the crow chaser
"Veshalosh amot ma'akeh": a parapet three amot tall enclosed the perimeter of the roof. Ordinarily a structure that serves as a house of prayer carries no obligation of ma'akeh, yet the Chachamim learned from this mishnah that a protective fence was nonetheless built for the Heichal.
"Ve'amah kaleh orev." Above the fence stood the kaleh orev, the crow chaser: a thin iron strip one amah high, sharpened along its upper edge so that birds could not perch on it. Another view holds that the kaleh orev was a field of iron spikes an amah high, spread across the whole roof, so that no bird would settle anywhere on the building. Its purpose was to keep dead birds off the roof and to keep the holy roof of the Beit Hamikdash from being soiled.
Add all these measurements together and they come to exactly one hundred amot, the height the mishnah opened with.
Rabbi Yehudah's accounting
Rabbi Yehudah offers a different tally. "Lo hayah kaleh orev", the crow chaser, was left out of the reckoning, "oleh min hamidah", it never entered the count of the hundred amot, because in his view it belonged to no part of the actual construction. "Ela", instead, "arba amot hayah ma'akeh": the parapet in his reckoning measured four amot. Subtract the amah of spikes from the list and add an amah to the fence, and Rabbi Yehudah's figures also total one hundred.