A paving slab unlike the others. A Kohen unfit for service was sorting the altar's wood in this chamber; he notices a slab different from its neighbours, goes to tell another Kohen, and dies before finishing his sentence. They then knew for certain that the Ark was hidden there, underneath. Two families already held this from their fathers, that of Rabban Gamliel and that of Rabbi Chananya, the segan of the Kohanim: they prostrated themselves fourteen times in the Temple instead of thirteen, the fourteenth facing this chamber. The Gemara gives another version: two Kohanim were sorting the wood, the axe of one of them fell on that spot, and fire came out and consumed him.
Dimensions
- one paving slab: 4 × 8 amot
- raised by a tenth of an amah
- in the Lishkat HaEtzim, facing the door
Sources
- Shekalim 6:1“וְהֵיכָן הָיְתָה יְתֵרָה, כְּנֶגֶד דִּיר הָעֵצִים, שֶׁכֵּן מָסֹרֶת בְּיָדָם מֵאֲבוֹתֵיהֶם שֶׁשָּׁם הָאָרוֹן נִגְנַז”
- Shekalim 6:2“מַעֲשֶׂה בְּכֹהֵן אֶחָד שֶׁהָיָה מִתְעַסֵּק, וְרָאָה הָרִצְפָּה שֶׁהִיא מְשֻׁנָּה מֵחֲבֵרוֹתֶיהָ. בָּא וְאָמַר לַחֲבֵרוֹ. לֹא הִסְפִּיק לִגְמֹר אֶת הַדָּבָר עַד שֶׁיָּצְתָה נִשְׁמָתוֹ, וְיָדְעוּ בְיִחוּד שֶׁשָּׁם הָאָרוֹן נִגְנַז”
- Bartenura Shekalim 6:1“לִשְׁכָּה שֶׁשָּׁם הָיוּ אוֹצְרִים כָּל עֲצֵי הַמַּעֲרָכָה, וְהִיא הָיְתָה בְּמִקְצוֹעַ מִזְרָחִית צְפוֹנִית שֶׁל עֶזְרַת נָשִׁים”
- Bartenura Shekalim 6:2“לֹא הָיְתָה הָאֶבֶן שָׁוָה לִשְׁאַר אַבְנֵי הָרִצְפָּה, וְהֵבִין שֶׁנִּסְתַּלְּקָה מִשָּׁם וְהֻחְזְרָה”
- Yoma 54a“וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים: אָרוֹן בְּלִשְׁכַּת דִּיר הָעֵצִים הָיָה גָּנוּז”
- Yoma 54a“שְׁנֵי כֹהֲנִים בַּעֲלֵי מוּמִין הָיוּ מַתְלִיעִין בְּעֵצִים, וְנִשְׁמְטָה קַרְדּוּמּוֹ שֶׁל אֶחָד מֵהֶם וְנָפְלָה שָׁם, וְיָצְתָה אֵשׁ וַאֲכָלַתּוּ”
- Yoma 53b“רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: אָרוֹן גָּלָה לְבָבֶל”
- Yoma 53b“רַבִּי יְהוּדָה (בֶּן לָקִישׁ) אוֹמֵר: אָרוֹן בִּמְקוֹמוֹ נִגְנַז”
- Rambam, Hilchot Beit HaBechirah 4:1“בָּנָה בּוֹ מָקוֹם לִגְנֹז בּוֹ הָאָרוֹן לְמַטָּה בְּמַטְמוֹנִיּוֹת עֲמֻקוֹת וַעֲקַלְקַלּוֹת וְיֹאשִׁיָּהוּ הַמֶּלֶךְ צִוָּה וּגְנָזוֹ בַּמָּקוֹם שֶׁבָּנָה שְׁלֹמֹה”
- Tosafot Yom Tov Shekalim 6:2“וכפי' רש"י ביומא פרק ה' דף נ"ד ומוקים התם דבבית שני היה”
Project decisionAdopted: the “dir ha'etzim” is the Lishkat HaEtzim, at the northeast corner of the Ezrat Nashim (Bartenura on Shekalim 6:1), and the view of the Sages, for whom the Ark is hidden there (Yoma 54a); the slab was not level with the others, a sign that it had been removed and put back (Bartenura on Shekalim 6:2). Set aside: the Ark exiled to Babylonia, according to R. Eliezer, or hidden in its place, in the Kodesh HaKodashim, according to R. Yehuda ben Lakish (Yoma 53b). The Rambam says only that Shlomo built deep and winding hiding places beneath the Temple, where Yoshiyahu had it hidden (Beit HaBechirah 4:1). The story takes place in the Second Temple (Tosfot Yom Tov). The tour shows the Temple to come, with the Ark back in its place: the slab marks the spot where this tradition says it was hidden. Tour's choice: the slab's place in the chamber, its size — that of one paving slab — and its height.