Hadran: Advancing Talmud Study for Women

The Gemara raises a difficulty regarding the opinion that the Table (Shulchan) was positioned in an east-west orientation. It resolves this by explaining that the Table crafted by Moses was not placed centrally between the other rows of tables, but rather stood on the western side, close to the Parochet, not in between the others. Regarding the ten Tables and ten Menoras added by King Solomon, there is a Tannaic dispute: were they purely decorative – with only the one from Moshe’s time being used for the service – or were the lamps lit and the bread arranged on all of them?

In addition to the main Table, two other tables stood in the Ulam (the Entrance Hall) to serve as transition stations for the showbread. One was made of marble (or silver), where the bread was placed before being brought into the Sanctuary, and the other was made of gold, where the bread was placed upon its removal. This distinction is based on the halakhic principle “ma’alin b’kodesh v’lo moridin” (one ascends in holiness but does not descend). Since the bread had already been on a golden table inside the Sanctuary, it could not be placed on a table of lesser value when being taken out. The Gemara finds support for this concept in the fact that the broken Tablets were placed in the Ark also. This leads to a discussion on the importance of preserving one’s Torah learning and the gravity of forgetting it, while emphasizing that one must still honor a Torah scholar who has forgotten his learning due to circumstances beyond his control.

The Mishna brings a tannaitic debate about how the bread was replaced each week, based on how each opinion understands the word “tamid” (continually) regarding the showbread. This triggers a fundamental debate regarding the mitzvah of Torah study and the verse, “This book of the Torah shall not depart (lo yamush) from your mouth.” While some view this as a mandate to toil in Torah at every available moment, Rabbi Yochanan suggests that even a person who recites the Shema in the morning and evening has fulfilled “lo yamush.” For such an individual, it is considered as if they had occupied themselves with Torah day and night.

Rabbi Yochanan explains that a “medium-sized cubit” consists of six handbreadths. This terminology implies the existence of a larger cubit. A Mishna in Middot (1:3) is brought to explain that there were two measuring sticks kept in a room at the entrance to the Temple Mount (where a depiction of Shushan the capital was displayed). Both were larger than the medium cubit used by Moshe for the Tabernacle: one was a fingerbreadth longer, and the other was two fingerbreadths longer. The purpose of this was to prevent craftsmen from accidentally misusing consecrated property (Me’ilah). Since they received payment based on exact measurements, if they had erred and made an item slightly too small, they would have personally benefited from the Temple treasury. The shorter one was used for gold and silver, and the longer one for other materials.

The verses in Vayikra (24:5-6) describe exactly how many loaves of showbread there were, how many arrangements were on the Table, and how many loaves were in each arrangement. Why were all those descriptions necessary?

In what directions did the Ark, Menorah, and Table face in the room, and in which part of the room were they placed?

The Gemara offers three suggestions for why the Shulchan, which was made of wood and covered in gold, was treated as a wooden vessel regarding the laws of impurity. After rejecting the first two possibilities, they conclude that the status is derived from a verse in Yechezkel, which describes the structure as “wood.” This establishes that despite the gold plating, the table’s essence is wood.

Relating to the debate in the Mishna of the length and width of the Shulchan in handbreadths, there is a tannaitic debate regarding the two types of cubit measurements used in the Temple: some measuring five handbreadths and others measuring six. Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehuda disagree over which items followed which measurement, though both derive their positions from the same verse in Yechezkel 43:13.

The verse specifically identifies four items – the yesod (base), the sovev (ledge), the keren (horns), and the Golden Altar – as using the five-handbreadth measurement. The core of their debate is whether this smaller measurement was restricted to these items or extended to all other vessels, including the Shulchan.

In analyzing how these measurements were applied to the yesod and sovev, the Gemara initially assumes the five-handbreadth cubit referred to their height. When this is rejected, the Sages suggest it referred to their width. However, this second suggestion is also dismissed as the math does not align with the traditional dimensions of the Altar.

Ultimately, the Gemara concludes that a uniform rule cannot be applied across all four items. Instead, it determines that for certain components, the five-handbreadth measurement applied to the height, while for others, it applied to the width.

Unlike the showbread (lechem hapanim) and the two loaves (shtei halechem), for which there is a debate about when they are sanctified, the minchat chavitin of the Kohen Gadol and regular meal offerings are sanctified the moment they are placed into a service vessel (kli sharet). From that point forward, they are considered holy and can be disqualified by factors such as being left overnight (linah) or leaving the Sanctuary.

Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehuda disagree regarding the dimensions of the Table (Shulchan) and the measurements of the individual loaves that made up the showbread. The Mishna explains how the loaves were arranged on the Table according to these two opinions.

Rabbi Yochanan calculated the maximum height at which the Table could sanctify the bread, based on the total height of the stacked loaves according to the respective views of Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Meir. The Gemara raised several difficulties with his statement but ultimately resolved them.

Following this discussion, a dispute arose regarding the frame (misgeret) of the Table—whether it was fixed above the tabletop or beneath it. From there, Rabbi Yochanan linked these different opinions to a question regarding the ritual impurity of a “reversible table” (tavla hamit’pachet).

What is clear from his words is that the Table was susceptible to ritual impurity. However, if it was a wooden vessel, a “wooden vessel made to rest in a fixed place” (kli etz ha’asui lenachat) should not be susceptible to impurity. The Gemara resolves this by Reish Lakish’s explanation that the Table was moved and lifted to be shown to the festival pilgrims, thus categorizing it as a mobile vessel.