Menachos Daf 98 מנחוס דַף 98

A Mishnah teaches that an image of שושן הבירה was drawn upon the eastern gate of the second Beis Hamikdash. Rav Chisda and Rav Yitzchak bar Avdimi debate its purpose: one said it was כדי שידעו מהיכן באו – so they should know from where they came and properly thank the king of Persia. One said it was כדי שתהא אימת מלכות עליהן – so that the awe of the rulership of Persia should be upon them and they would not rebel against them. Rebbe Yannai said: לעולם תהא אימת מלכות עליך – the awe of the rulership should always be upon you, as Moshe told פרעה: וירדו כל עבדיך אלה אלי והשתחוו לי לאמר – and all these servants will come down to me and bow before me, saying, etc. but he did not say that פרעה himself would come bow before him, (although he would do so), out of respect for royalty. Rebbe Yochanan derives it from a passuk describing Eliyahu running a great distance before the wicked king אחאב, so he should not travel unescorted.

A Baraisa teaches that all the כלים in the Mikdash were placed ארכן לארכו של בית – with their length along the Sanctuary’s length (i.e., in an east-west direction), except the ארון, which stood in a north-south direction. The Gemara proceeds to demonstrate that the ארון’s poles extended (eastward) to protrude from the פרוכת, and were attached to its width, proving that the ארון must have been placed in a north-south direction. A Baraisa teaches that Shlomo made ten שולחנות for the Beis Hamikdash, five to the right of Moshe’s and five to its left. All were required to be in the northern half of the היכל, and they were placed from the halfway point of the היכל and inward. In another Baraisa, Rebbe says מזרח ומערב היו מונחין – they were placed lengthwise from east to west, and Rebbe Elazar bar Rebbe Shimon says they were placed from north to south. Later, the Gemara poses several challenges to this second opinion, and eventually proves that the שולחנות were not arranged in a single row running north-south, but in two rows.

The Gemara explains that Rebbe derives his opinion from the Menorah, which was also placed east to west. He proves this from the נר מערבי – the western lamp, which the passuk describes as "לפני ה'" – before Hashem, which implies that the other נרות are not "לפני ה'", i.e., they are further from the קודש הקדשים than the נר מערבי. If the Menorah was placed north to south, the נרות would be equidistant from the קודש הקדשים; therefore, the Menorah must have been placed from east to west, and the westernmost נר was "לפני ה'". Rebbe Elazar bar Rebbe Shimon derives that the שולחנות were placed from north to south from the ארון, but Rebbe holds we derive חוץ מחוץ – outside כלים from other outside כלים (i.e., the שולחנות from the Menorah), not from the ארון which is בפנים. Rebbe Elazar bar Rebbe Shimon holds that the Menorah itself was placed north to south. He explains that the נר מערבי was called "לפני ה'", because דמצדד להו אצדודי – [the outer נרות’s wicks] were turned towards the center נר, and only the center נר was turned towards the קודש הקדשים, and was therefore called "לפני ה'". Rebbe Nassan said: מכאן שאמצעי משובח – from here we see that the middle is praiseworthy.