In the First Temple, a wall one ama thick, the Amah Traksin, separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. In the Second, the Sages no longer knew whether this ama belonged to the Holy Place or to the Holy of Holies: so they hung TWO curtains, one ama apart, rather than decide. The outer curtain is fastened on the south, the inner one on the north: the Kohen Gadol enters from the south side, moves north along the one-ama space that separates them, and enters from the north — a path in an “S.” Each parokhet is 40 amot by 20, a tefach thick, woven of 72 threads of 24 strands, six of each of the four materials in equal parts: blue-purple, purple, scarlet and linen. No gold thread. The weave, ma'aseh choshev, bears a different image on each face — sometimes, Rashi explains, a lion on one side and an eagle on the other. Two new ones were made each year. From the Heikhal, one sees the ends of the bars of the Ark pressing the cloth, like two breasts.
Dimensions
- two parokhot one ama apart
- 40 amot × 20
- thickness of one tefach
- 72 threads of 24 strands, six of each of the four materials
- two new ones each year
- bulges of the badim at ≈ 1.5 ama from the floor, 1.38 ama on either side of the axis (model's choice: the badim pass outside the flanks of the Ark; Rashi on Exodus 25:12 counts 2.5 amot between them)
Sources
Project decisionAdopted: the four materials — three wools and linen — are woven into every thread (Shekalim 8:5; Rashi on Exodus 26:31): the fabric is a mottled purple, not bands of color. Shmuel, however, counts this description among the three where the Sages speak “in exaggerated language” (Tamid 29a–b). Tour's choice: a heavy, flat fabric without drapery, and figures without any human face; the other image on the reverse side is not shown. Set aside: R. Yossi, for whom there was only a single parokhet (Yoma 5:1). Tour's choice: Yoma 54a speaks of only one parokhet; with two, the bars of the Ark cross the Amah Traksin, carry the inner curtain with them and make the outer one bulge.