Dear Rabbi Kornfeld,
In the Schottenstein edition (Artscroll), footnote 36 to Gittin 54B (3rd page) mentions a place where one could see the kohen gadol while he was in the Holy of Holies. What is the basis for that footnote and where might that vantage point be located?
Thank you.
Hag Pesach kosher v'sameach.
Yehuda Wiesen, Newton, Massachusetts
The source for that footnote seems to be Rashi (DH d'Chazinei) and the TOSFOS HA'ROSH, who cite a Gemara in Zevachim 55b that refers to a "peekhole" ("Lul," in Hebrew) that was built into the Western wall of the Kodesh ha'Kodashim. Anyone standing in the 11 Amos between the Western wall of the Temple and the Western wall of the Azarah (according to many commentaries, even a Yisrael was permitted to stand in these 11 Amos, see Vilna Gaon's comment to Midos 2:3, Boaz to Midos 5:1.), would be able to theoretically look into the Lul to see what was going on inside the Kodesh ha'Kodashim. (Note that we do not refer here to the Western Wall by which we pray, which is the Western Wall of the Har ha'Bayis and not the Azarah.)
The Gemara in Zevachim, in turn, bases this on a verse in Divrei ha'Yamim I:26:18.
In any case, it seems that people did not usually stand there, and certainly did not usually peek in during the Avodah. Rashi just means that the possibility for looking in did exist.
Chag Kosher v'Same'ach
-Mordecai Kornfeld