Sukkah 51a Part 2/4

AI summary (may contain mistakes)

What did the night of Simchas Beis HaShoeva look like in the Beis HaMikdash? Following the Mishnah step by step, golden menoros in the Ezras Nashim lit up all of Yerushalayim while tzaddikim danced with torches and the Levi'im played on fifteen steps. When the rooster crowed, the kohanim blew trumpets and walked east to the gate. There they turned west to proclaim that, unlike our fathers who bowed to the sun, our eyes are to Hashem.

Key points

• One suggestion ties the 120 lug of oil to Moshe Rabbeinu's 120 years.
• The Mishnah has wicks torn from the kohanim's worn-out pants and belts.
• Rashi describes the dancers throwing torches up and catching them, four or eight at once.
• The Mishnah ties the fifteen steps to fifteen songs of ascent.
• Our fathers faced east to bow to the sun, so the kohanim turned west toward Hashem.

In this shiur

1. 0:00Simcha in the Ezras Nashim
2. 1:39Oil jugs and wicks for menoros
3. 3:41Light over all Yerushalayim
4. 4:57Dancing with torches and instruments
5. 7:33The fifteen steps and songs of ascent
6. 10:06Kara hagever and the trumpets
7. 15:43Turning west at the eastern gate
8. 18:37Pictures of the Beis HaMikdash layout

Topics

• Simchas Beis HaShoeva
• Beis HaMikdash
• Ezras Nashim