Two strips of eleven amot each, east of the Azara: the Ezrat Israel, where the people stand, then the Ezrat Kohanim to the west. According to the first view in the mishna, projections, rashei pispasin, separate them; according to R. Eliezer ben Yaakov, it is a one-ama step, and this is where the Dukhan stands. The people do not cross into the Ezrat Kohanim, except for the semikha, the shechita and the tenufa.
Dimensions
- Ezrat Israel: 11 amot out of the 187 east to west
- Ezrat Kohanim: the next 11 amot to the west
- 135 amot wide
- one-ama step between the two, according to R. Eliezer ben Yaakov
Sources
- Middot 5:1“מְקוֹם דְּרִיסַת יִשְׂרָאֵל אַחַת עֶשְׂרֵה אַמָּה”
- Middot 2:6“וְרָאשֵׁי פִסְפָּסִין מַבְדִּילִין בֵּין עֶזְרַת יִשְׂרָאֵל לְעֶזְרַת הַכֹּהֲנִים. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן יַעֲקֹב אוֹמֵר, מַעֲלָה הָיְתָה שָׁם, וּגְבוֹהָה אַמָּה, וְהַדּוּכָן נָתוּן עָלֶיהָ”
- Kelim 1:8
Project decisionAdopted: a one-ama step between the Ezrat Israel and the Ezrat Kohanim, carrying the Dukhan, following R. Eliezer ben Yaakov (Middot 2:6). Set aside: the mere row of projections (rashei pispasin) of the first view in the mishna.