Siman - Yoma Daf 16
- Rebbe Eliezer ben Yaakov is the anonymous Tanna of Middos based on the four chambers
Rav Huna said that the anonymous Tanna who taught Masechta Middos is Rebbe Eliezer ben Yaakov, based on the following Mishnah in Middos that details the Ezras Nashim in the Beis HaMikdash. וארבע לשכות היו בארבע מקצועותיה – and four chambers were located in the four corners. What functions did they serve? The southeastern chamber was the לשכת הנזירים, where the nazirim cooked their shelamim, cut their hair, and threw it under the cauldron where the shelamim were cooking. The northeastern chamber was the לשכת דיר העצים, for storing wood for the mizbayach. The כהנים בעלי מומין stood there and examined the wood for worms. The northwestern chamber was the לשכת המצורעין, where a metzorah would immerse himself in a mikvah before receiving the blood applications. Regarding the southwestern chamber, Rebbe Eliezer ben Yaakov said שכחתי מה היתה משמשת – “I forgot what function it served.” Abba Shaul said, they used it to place wine and oil, and called it לשכת בית שמניא. Rashi explains that the Mishnah quoting Rebbe Eliezer ben Yaakov in the end of the Mishnah, implies he was the anonymous Tanna of the Mishnah.
- A second proof from the lower eastern wall of Har Habayis
The Gemara brings another proof that the anonymous Tanna of Masechta Middos is Rebbe Eliezer ben Yaakov, based on a Mishnah there that states, כל הכתלים שהיו שם היו גבוהין – All the walls that were there, enclosing Har Habayis and its structures, were very tall, חוץ מכותל מזרחי – except for the eastern wall, שהכהן השורף את הפרה עומד בהר המשחה – so that the Kohen who burned the parah adumah, could stand on Har HaZeisim, which is east of Har Habayis ומכוין ורואה כנגד פתחו של היכל – and aim and look towards the entrance of the Heichal בשעת הזאת הדם – at the time of sprinkling the blood of the parah adumah. The Gemara deduces from a series of Mishnayos that this must reflect the opinion of Rebbe Eliezer ben Yaakov, who holds that the floor of the Heichal was 20 ½ amos higher than the Har Habayis. Given that all the Temple gates were twenty amos high, it would have been impossible for the Kohen burning the parah to see the Heichal through the eastern gate. This is the reason that the eastern wall needed to be lower, so that the Kohen could look over it and see the Heichal. According to the Chochomim, who disagreed with Rebbe Eliezer ben Yaakov and held that the floor of the Heichal was 19 ½ amos higher than the Har Habayis, there was no need to lower the eastern wall.
- Proof that Rebbe Yehudah is not the stam Tanna based on the position of the mizbayach
Rav Adda bar Ahavah said that the anonymous Tanna who states the eastern wall is lower, is Rebbe Yehudah, based on a Baraisa where Rebbe Yehudah said המזבח ממוצע ועומד באמצע עזרה – The mizbayach stood precisely in the middle of the courtyard. Therefore, according to Rebbe Yehudah, the mizbayach obstructed the view of the Heichal for one looking through the eastern gate of Har Habayis, and this is the reason the eastern wall needed to be lower than the others.
The Gemara rejects this based on the fact that the anonymous Tanna in Middos teaches that the majority of the sixty-two amos comprising the ramp and the mizbayach were in the southern half of the azarah. We can conclude from here that Rebbe Eliezer ben Yaakov is the anonymous Tanna and not Rebbe Yehudah.
