A Thought About Maoz Tzur
One line in Ma'oz Tzur I particularly love. The 5th verse of Maoz Tzur describes the Chanukkah story. One phrase in this verse is "ufortzu chomos migdalai", which would be literally translated "and they opened up the walls of my citadel". Mentally, I always pictured breaking down the walls of the Beis Hamikdosh, or perhaps a fortress.
However, I found the following Mishna in Midos (Ch. 2, Mishna 2 in the Yachin Uboaz edition, Mishna 3 in Kahati's -- who splits up the YU"B's mishna 1 into 2 parts). The second chapter describes the Beis Hamikdosh as it would appear to someone walking in from outside the Temple Mount to the Altar. This mishna picks up right after you walk through the gate and onto the Temple Mount.
To help you picture what a soreg is, the root means woven. The Bartenura describes the soreg as a mechitzah woven out of thin wooden slats running at diagonals. The Bartenura compares it to the part of the bed used to support the mattress, with plenty of open space inside the weave.
He goes on to say that the Hellenists opened up holes in the soreg opposite each of the gates in the outer wall to let anyone see in. Note the shoresh used /p-r-tz/, the same as in the piyut. The soreg marked the limit for gentiles, they were not allowed in beyond that point. To the Hellenist mind, this havdalah bein Yisrael la'Amim, separation between the Jews and the other nations, was repugnant. It ran against their assimalationist efforts.
Chomos migdalei, the walls of my citadel, were not the mighty walls around the Temple Mount or the walls of a fortress. They were a see-through mechitzah, the realization that the Jew, as one of the Mamleches Kohanim, has a higher calling.
However, I found the following Mishna in Midos (Ch. 2, Mishna 2 in the Yachin Uboaz edition, Mishna 3 in Kahati's -- who splits up the YU"B's mishna 1 into 2 parts). The second chapter describes the Beis Hamikdosh as it would appear to someone walking in from outside the Temple Mount to the Altar. This mishna picks up right after you walk through the gate and onto the Temple Mount.
Inside of it is the soreg, 10 tefachim [appx 2'6"] high. It had thirteen peratzos (broken openings) there, that the Hellenist kings partzum (broke open). They returned and closed them off, and legislated corresponding to them 13 prostrations.
To help you picture what a soreg is, the root means woven. The Bartenura describes the soreg as a mechitzah woven out of thin wooden slats running at diagonals. The Bartenura compares it to the part of the bed used to support the mattress, with plenty of open space inside the weave.
He goes on to say that the Hellenists opened up holes in the soreg opposite each of the gates in the outer wall to let anyone see in. Note the shoresh used /p-r-tz/, the same as in the piyut. The soreg marked the limit for gentiles, they were not allowed in beyond that point. To the Hellenist mind, this havdalah bein Yisrael la'Amim, separation between the Jews and the other nations, was repugnant. It ran against their assimalationist efforts.
Chomos migdalei, the walls of my citadel, were not the mighty walls around the Temple Mount or the walls of a fortress. They were a see-through mechitzah, the realization that the Jew, as one of the Mamleches Kohanim, has a higher calling.
posted by micha @ 12/08/2004 10:50:00 AM
