middot

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("Measurements"). Tenth tractate of Order Kodashim in the Mishnah. Its five chapters describe the Second Temple and give the dimensions of each of its parts. The Mishnah begins by enumerating all the places where the Priests stood watch and the location of all the Temple gates, followed by the dimensions of the Temple Mount, the walls, railing, steps, gates, doors, Inner Court, Altar, and Chambers of the Sanctuary. The tractate concludes with a description of the meeting hall of the Great Sanhedrin and the determination of the fitness of priests for service (according to the veracity of their purported descent from Aaron). Maimonides wrote that the dimensions of the Temple were included in the Mishnah as a reminder of the preciousness of the Temple and of its glory. There is no Talmud on this tractate.

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