The Ma'arakhot

The woodpiles set up on the surface of the altar. According to R. Yosei, three fires burn there, and four on Yom Kippur. In the center is the tapuach, the mound of ash that the logs of the great ma'arakha touch. Among the miracles of the Temple, the Mishnah counts that the rain did not put out the fire of the ma'arakha and the wind did not prevail over the column of smoke.

Dimensions

• surface of the altar: 28 × 28 amot
• fire zone: 24 × 24 amot, past the ama of the horns and the ama of walkway
• three fires, four on Kippur (R. Yosei; R. Meir: 4 and 5; R. Yehuda: 2 and 3)
• the fourth on Kippur provides the coals for the incense of the Kodesh HaKodashim
• tapuach: at the center of the top

Sources

• Middot 3:1
• Yoma 4:6
• Tamid 2:1–5
• Tamid 2:2“וְתַפּוּחַ הָיָה בְאֶמְצַע הַמִּזְבֵּחַ”
• Rambam, Hilchot Temidin uMusafin 2:4–7
• Bartenura Yoma 4:6“וּמוֹסִיפִין בְּיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים עוֹד מַעֲרָכָה אַחַת לִטֹּל מִמֶּנָּה גֶּחָלִים לַקְּטֹרֶת לִפְנַי וְלִפְנִים”
• Avot 5:5“וְלֹא כִבּוּ גְשָׁמִים אֵשׁ שֶׁל עֲצֵי הַמַּעֲרָכָה, וְלֹא נָצְחָה הָרוּחַ אֶת עַמּוּד הֶעָשָׁן”