In this week’s parsha we read about the kosher and non-kosher animals. Everyone knows which animals are permissible to offer as sacrifices in the Beit HaMikdash – cattle, sheep, goats, turtledoves, and pigeons.
In this shiur I would like to discuss some other animals that you would not expect to find in the Beit HaMikdash, including, believe it or not, dogs, lions, eagles, ravens, lizards, and mice.
To be honest, five of the six were not actually present in the Mikdash in their live form, but rather in pictorial/symbolic form. One of the six was present in its live form (ravens).
In last week’s parsha we read about the Heavenly fire on the mizbe’ach, which the Gemara (Yoma 21b) says resembled a crouching dog. When the Korban was offered on the mizbe’ach you could actually see the fire in the shape of a stray, mongrel dog.
That was in the second Mikdash. In the first Mikdash, however, the fire resembled a crouching lion, the king of the beasts.
However, that was not the only lion in the Mikdash, there were two others. The tall building in the Beit HaMikdash, the Ulam, also resembled a crouching lion, it was wide in front and narrow at the back (Mishna, Middot 4:7).We find the third lion, perhaps the clearest of them all, on the thick parochet (curtain) that divided the heichal and the Kodesh Kodashim.
The Gemara (Yerushalmi, Shekalim 8:2) says that there were two images of keruvim (cherubs) on the side of the parochet facing the heichal. Exactly how they were made and what the keruvim looked like is a debate in the Gemara. According to all opinions at least one of the keruvim had the face of a lion (some say both).
According to one opinion, the second keruv on the parochet was not a lion but had the face of an eagle! This eagle was present in both the first and second Batei Mikdash, until they were destroyed. There was, however, another eagle that was only there for a much briefer period before it was removed. King Herod hung a gold statue of an eagle (the symbol of Rome) over the entrance of the Ulam when he rebuilt the second Mikdash, but this was forcibly removed when the Jews revolted against him, towards the end of his life in 4 BCE (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 17).
While on the subject of birds, there was a prominent feature that existed in the second Mikdash that was absent from the first Mikdash. It was called the Kalya Orev (raven trap). G-d’s Shechina resided in the first Mikdash, and as a result, although birds were offered as Korbanot on the mizbe’ach, the Mikdash was a “no fly zone.” No birds flew overhead, nor landed and perched on the various structures of the Mikdash. However, in the second Mikdash, where the Shechina did not reside, ravens frequently flew and landed, making a huge mess, which was demeaning to the Mikdash. To prevent this, they constructed this raven trap on the roof of the Ulam (Mishna, Middot 4:6).
What form this took exactly is a matter of opinion. Some say it was like sharp nails to prevent birds landing (Rashi, Menachot 107a). Some say it was like teeth of a serrated saw (Rambam, Hilchot Beit HaBechira 4:3). Some say it was a kind of a scarecrow (Tosfot, Menachot 107a). Some say it was only on the perimeter of the roof, others say all over the roof (Rashi, Shabbat 90a).
One would not think lizards could be found in the Beit HaMikdash but we do find one incidence of a lizard and that is in connection with the Lechem HaPanim.
The Gemara (Pesachim 3a) discusses how they divided up the Lechem HaPanim on Shabbat to the Kohanim, who each ended up receiving a very small portion, some say a kezayit, some say the size of ful (a broadbean), but despite this, when they ate it, it filled them up as if they had eaten an entire meal. Once, when distributing the pieces of Lechem HaPanim, one of the Kohanim complained and used a derogatory phrase to describe his portion, “My piece is so small, it resembles the tail of a lizard!” The Gemara says that it is one thing to complain, but to use derogatory language like that, something is not right! They checked and discovered some fault in his lineage and that he was not fit to serve as a Kohen.
Our final creature was more tangible – mice. Mice in the Beit HaMikdash?!
The book of Shmuel I (chapters 4-6) describes how the Philistines attacked Israel in the time of the prophet Eli. To help them triumph over the Philistines, the sons of Eli, Chofni and Pinchas mistakenly decided to take the Aron HaBrit with them into battle to defeat their enemies. As a result of this misguided act, 30,000 of Am Yisrael perished and the Aron was taken into captivity.
The Philistines paraded the Aron as a trophy in their city of Ashdod, but G-d struck them with a terrible plague. When they went to the bathroom, mice crawled into their intestines, wreaking havoc. They tried to move the Aron from one place to the next, to no avail, the plague struck each place in turn. Eventually they decided to return it to Israel with an additional gift – five golden statues of mice!
When Shlomo HaMelech built the first Beit HaMidkash, he placed these five gold mice in a box, in the holiest place – next to the Aron HaBrit in the Kodesh HaKodashim (Bava Batra 14a) – as a reminder that one should not trifle with the Aron and should treat it with the required respect.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: The first pasuk refers to the “eighth day?” Which “eighth day” is it referring to?
Answer to Last Week’s Trivia Question: What is the difference between the Machvat and Marcheshet pans? A Machvat is a flat skillet with no raised edges. The Marcheshet is a deep pan with raised edges.
