One does not go up to the altar by steps — “you shall not go up by steps to My altar” — but by the kevesh, the ramp thirty-two amot by sixteen set against the south of the altar. All who go up to the altar go up by the right, go around and come down by the left, except for three services where one returns the way one came. The tamid tour has this kohen go up the east side of the ramp and down the west, in a loop.
Dimensions
- kevesh: 32 amot long, 16 wide, south of the altar
- up by the right, down by the left
- never steps
Sources
- Exodus 20:23“וְלֹא תַעֲלֶה בְמַעֲלֹת עַל מִזְבְּחִי”
- Middot 3:3“וְכֶבֶשׁ הָיָה לִדְרוֹמוֹ שֶׁל מִזְבֵּחַ, שְׁלֹשִׁים וּשְׁתַּיִם עַל רֹחַב שֵׁשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה”
- Zevachim 6:3“כָּל הָעוֹלִים לַמִּזְבֵּחַ, עוֹלִין דֶּרֶךְ יָמִין, וּמַקִּיפִין וְיוֹרְדִין דֶּרֶךְ שְׂמֹאל”
Project decisionTour's choice: this kohen goes up empty-handed, to show the ramp and its direction; he carries neither limb nor vessel.