"The length of the courtyard [of the Mishkan should be] one hundred Amot, and the width, fifty "by fifty"..."

(Shmot 27:17)

Althouth the Mishnah is discussing the size of the Temple Mount during the *Second* Temple period, 500 x 500 Amot is also the size of the enclosed area which will surround the Temple of the future, or the *Third* Temple (Yechezkel 42:15,20 -- The dimensions mentioned in the verse are actually "500 x 500 Kanim," but according to Radak, a "Kaneh" is synonymous with an "Amah." See also Rashi and other commentaries, who attribute six Amot to each Kaneh).

The Rosh (Midot 2:1) points out that the verse with which we started contains a hint that the Temple Mount will have these dimensions. The extra "fifty" of the Pasuk indicates that the one hundred by fifty Amah area of the courtyard of the Mishkan, when multiplied "by fifty," will yield the size of the more permanent "courtyard" of the Beit Hamikdash -- i.e. the Temple Mount. The courtyard of the Mishkan was 100 x 50 Amot and therefore enclosed 5,000 square Amot. The Temple Mount (which was 500 x 500 Amot) enclosed 250,000 square Amot, which is exactly 50 times 5,000 Amot! (This observation is also noted by the Vilna Gaon in his comment on the Mishnah and the Ba'al Haturim on the above-quoted verse. This is apparently what Rashi in Divrei Hayamim [1:28:19] means as well, quoting "Krovatz for Shabbat Channuka")

The Rosh's son, Rav Yakov Ba'al Haturim (Shmot 25:2), adds an embellishment to his father's suggestion. The Parasha commanding the Jews to build the Mishkan begins, "Tell the Jewish People that they should separate a Terumah for me...". Terumah that is removed from edible produce and given to Kohanim (the more familiar context of the word) constitutes one fiftieth of all of one's produce. Perhaps this introductory verse is hinting that when we build the courtyard of the Mishkan, we are to designate "one fiftieth" the size of the Temple Mount -- or five thousand square Amot -- for Hashem!

The Chasam Sofer offers his own interpretation of the "Terumah" to which the words "fifty *by fifty* allude. The Jews separated from the Mishkan proper the Holy of Holies, which was reserved for the holiest of services on Yom Kippur and not approachable during the rest of the year. The area of this portion of the Mishkan was 10 x 10 Amot, or one fiftieth of the 5,000 square Amot on which the Mishkan complex stood!

What is denoted by the name "Har Hamoriyah" [Divrei Hayamim II:3:1, referring to the Temple Mount]? Rav Levi bar Chama and Rav Chanina argued on this point. One said that it means, "The mountain upon which the Law [= Hora'ah] was given to the Jews," while the other asserted that it means, "The mountain which caused the nations of the world to fear [= Mora] the Jewish People."

(Ta'anit 16a)

We must take this to mean that the sanctity of the Temple Mount stemmed from the same revelation of Holiness that graced the mountain upon which the Torah was given. Yalkut Reuveini goes so far as to suggest that the Temple Mount temporarily "jumped" to the Sinai desert in order for the Torah to be given upon it! (Yalkut Reuveini, Parashat Yitro, s.v. Bish'as -- In a similar fashion, the Gemara tells us in Megillah 29a that Mount Tabor and Mount Carmel temporarily uprooted themselves from their home turf in Israel and crossed over to the Sinai desert at the giving of the Torah.)

In either case, the Gemara is clearly equating Mount Sinai at the time of the giving of the Torah with the Temple Mount. If so, it is not unreasonable to assume that the command "Mark off borders for the nation around [Mount Sinai] and tell them, 'Take care not to ascend the mountain or even touch its edge'" (Shmot 19:12) alludes to a 500 x 500 Amot partition around the mountain, corresponding to the 500 x 500 Amot wall which kept the uninvited out of the Temple Mount.

When was Har Sinai returned to the status of a normal mountain? Rashi (Ta'anit 21b) tells us that the mountain retained its sanctity until "the first of Nissan, when the Mishkan was erected, and the Divine Presence moved from the mountain to the Golden cover of the Holy Ark." The Holiness that had rested on the mountain was now transferred to the Mishkan.

This is what the Ba'al Haturim had in mind. The Mishkan complex was separated as a "Terumah" for the Temple Mount because the sanctity that would grace the Temple Mount already *was* in existence, incarnated in Mount Sinai. Hashem asked the Jewish People to designate the equivalent of one fiftieth of that holy site and bring it with them through the desert. Eventually, this Terumah of the Holiness would be restored to its permanent resting spot, the full 500 x 500 Amot of the Temple Mount!

Kohelet Yitzchak suggests that this measure is learned from the giving of the Torah in Har Sinai. The Gemara (ibid.) learns the importance of humility from the fact that Hashem chose to give us the Torah on Mount Sinai: "Hashem passed up all of the mountains and hills and rested his presence on [the lowly] Mount Sinai". Why not give the Torah in a valley? Obviously, a minimal amount of pride is in order.

How small was Mount Sinai in relation to the tallest of the mountains? The Midrash (Bereishit Rabba, Ch. 99) tells us that when Hashem was choosing a mountain upon which to give the Torah, Sinai's chief contender for those honors was Tabor. In Bava Batra (73b) we are told that Mt. Tabor was four Parsah by four Parsah. Each Parsa consists of four Mil, each being 2,000 Amot, making four Parsah the equivalent of 32,000 Amot. Mt. Sinai, which was 500 Amot on either side as we have shown above, is exactly one 64th the size of Mt. Tabor (if the gradient of the two mountains was equal and uniform, the height of each mountain should be directly proportional to the length of one of its sides). From this it can be learned that one may retain one part in 64 of "kosher" pride! (Kohelet Yitzchak, Parashat Yitro, in "Pirchei Nissan,"; Chanukat Hatorah #207, quoting Reb Heschel of Krakau)