[Avodah] Chatzros Kodshecha

[Zvi Lampel]

CHATZROS KODSHECHA

Al HaNissim recounts of the Maccabees…

Ba-u banecha lidvir beisecha, ufinu es heichalecha, vetiharu es
mikdashecha, vehidliku neiros bechastzros kodshecha.

Your sons came to the entrance of Your Temple,* and cleansed Your
Sanctuary, and purified Your Holy Place, and lit the oil lamps in the
chatzeiros of your holy ones / Your holy chatzeiros.


1. What are the chatzros kodshecha the Al HaNissim is referring to? * Did
the Beis HaMikdash have chatzeiros? How many? Where? Or were these outside
the Beis HaMikdash?

2. If they were part of the Beis Hamikdash, after saying "vetiharu es
mikdashecha, and they purified you Mikdash," why doesn't it just say,
'vehidliku neiros (shom), and they lit lamps (there)"? Why add "bechatzros
kodshecha"?

TWO CHATZEIROS
1. Melachim Beis 21:5, 23:12 and Divrei Hayamim Beis 33:5 refer to "the two
chatzeiros of the Beis Hashem." Metzudas Dovid identifies them as the Ezras
Kohanim and the Ezras Yisrael, and Ralbag on Divrei Hayamim Aleph 28:12 as
well explains that the chatzeiros are the chatzer of the kohanim and the
Ezras Yisrael.
So, it would seem that the Maccabees lit in two places: the Ezras Kohanim
and the Ezras Yisrael. Possible, but strange.

2. As to the second question, (after saying "vetiharu es mikdashecha, and
they purified you Mikdash," why doesn't it just say, 'vehidliku neiros
(shom), and they lit lamps (there)"? Why add "bechatzros kodshecha"?) one
may simply consider it a matter of prose. But I have another suggestion.

The kohanim practiced a stringency in preparing the parah adumah and its
ashes. They took extreme means to ensure those involved in that preparation
were perfectly free of any tumah. To this end, they raised children who
were protected *from birth* from *ever* having any contact with tumah.

Specifically, they constructed huge living quarters in the city of
Yerushalayim that were each built on top of a layer of rock that covered a
hollow space, so that in case there were any dead bodies buried beneath
that area, the spread of tumah would be contained and prevented from
reaching anyone above in those quarters. A kohane woman who was ready to
give birth would have her baby in such quarters, and the male children
would be raised in those quarters. guaranteed to never have been exposed to
tumah. Further measures were taken to keep those kohane youngsters pure of
tumah up until the time they were ready to perform the parah aduma
preparations.

This is described in the second mishnah of the third perek of maseches
Parah.

The mishnah refers to these Jerusalem quarters that were kept strictly pure
as: CHATZEIROS.

We are familiar with the concept that the Maccabees insisted on the
stringency of using only pure oil in the lamps, uncontaminated with tumah.
It would be consistent with this concern that even after purifying the Beis
HaMikdash, they would insist on kindling those lights in areas that from
the start were stringently kept uncontaminated by tumah as well—the
chatzros kodshecha.

Your sons came to the entrance of Your Temple,* and cleansed Your
Sanctuary, and purified Your Holy Place, and lit the oil lamps in the
chatzeiros of your holy ones / Your holy chatzeiros.

Ba-u banecha lidvir beisecha, ufinu es heichalecha, vetiharu es
mikdashecha, vehidliku neiros bechatzros kodshecha.


Your sons came to the entrance of Your Temple,* and cleansed Your temple,
and purified Your Sanctuary, and lit the oil lamps in the chatzeiros of
your holy ones / Your holy chatzeiros.

======================================
*See Malbim on Melachim Aleph 8:6.
** The phrase or similar ones appear elsewhere as well. Tehillim contains
six references (two of which are in Hallel) to the chatzros kodshecha,
chatzros Elokim, or His chatzeiros of the Beis HaMikdash Mikdash; and two
in Nechemiah 8:16 and 13:7 (as well as to those of the future third Beis
HaMikdash in Sefer Yechezkiel, but I will put those aside):
Tehillim 92:14—Shesulim b'veis Hashem, b'chatzros Elokim yafrichu.
Tehillim 84:3—v'gam kalsah nafshi lechatzros Hashem libi ubesari
Tehilim 96:8—s'u mincha u'vo'u l'chatzrosov
Tehillim 100:4—bo'u sh'arav b'sodah, chatzeirosov b'tehilah
Tehillim (Hallel)--B'chatzros beis Hashem, b'socheichi Yerushalayim.
Tehillim 135:1-2—hallelu es Sheim Hashem, hallelu avdei Hashem she'omdim
b'veis Hashem, b'chatzros Beis Elokeynu.
Nechemiah 8:16—vaya'vi'u vaya'asu ish al gago u'v'chatzroseyhem
u'v'chatzros beis haElokim…
Nechemiah 13:7—nishkah bechatzrei Beis Elokeynu.
Divrei Hayamim I 23:28, 28:6,12—laavodas Beis Hashem al haChatziros;
chatzros Beis HaElokim
Divrei Hayamim II 23:5, 33:6— vekol haAm bechatzros Beis Hashem; bishtay
chatzros Beis Hashem.

And in the daily Modim Derabannan--V'se'esof galuyoseinu l'chatzros
kodshecha.

(There are also the chatzros Yerushalayim ir hakodesh of Yeshaya 62:9, but
those are clearly the courtyards throughout Yerushalayim, distinct from the
chatzros Beis Hashem.)

Zvi Lampel
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