Zevachim 56A

אורך מאה ושמונים ושבע על רוחב מאה ושלשים וחמש.

an area whose length is 187 cubits by 135 cubits in width.

תני תנא קמיה דרב נחמן: כל העזרה היתה מאה שמונים ושבע על רוחב מאה שלשים וחמש. אמר ליה, הכי אמר לי אבא: כגון זה ⁠– כהנים נכנסין לשם ואוכלין שם קדשי קדשים, ושוחטין שם קדשים קלים, וחייבין משום טומאה.

A tanna taught a baraita before Rav Naḥman: The entire Temple courtyard was 187 cubits in length by 135 cubits in width. Rav Naḥman said to the tanna: My father said this to me: In an area such as this, the priests enter there and eat offerings of the most sacred order there, and slaughter offerings of lesser sanctity there, and are liable due to entering in a state of ritual impurity.

למעוטי מאי? אילימא למעוטי חלונות, דלתות ועובי החומה ⁠– תנינא: החלונות ועובי החומה כלפנים!

The Talmud asks: These specific dimensions serve to exclude what? If we say they are stated to exclude the windows, doors, and thickness of the wall, we learn the opposite in a Mishnah (Pesaḥim 85b): The windows in the wall and the thickness of the wall are considered as though they are inside the Temple courtyard.

ואלא למעוטי לשכות? ואי בנויות בחול ופתוחות לקדש ⁠– והתנן: תוכן קודש! מדרבנן.

But rather, they are stated to exclude the chambers in the Temple courtyard. The Talmud asks: And if it is referring to chambers that are built in the non-sacred area, which is outside this designated space, and open to the sacred area, but didn’t we learn in a Mishnah (Ma’aser Sheni 3:8): The inside of chambers that are built in the sacred area but are open to the non-sacred area is non-sacred, but their roofs are sacred. If they are built in a non-sacred area and open to a sacred area, their interior is sacred and their roofs are non-sacred? The Talmud answers: They have sanctity by rabbinic law.

ודאורייתא לא?! והתניא: לשכות בנויות בחול, ופתוחות לקדש. מנין שהכהנים נכנסין לשם ואוכלים שם קדשי קדשים ושירי מנחה? תלמוד לומר: ״בחצר אהל מועד יאכלוה״⁠ – התורה ריבתה חצירות הרבה אצל אכילה אחת.

The Talmud asks: And do they not have sanctity by Torah law? But isn’t it taught in a baraita: With regard to the chambers that are built in the non-sacred area of the Temple Mount and open to the sacred area, from where is it derived that the priests enter there and eat there offerings of the most sacred order and the remainders of meal offerings? The verse states with regard to a meal offering: “It should be eaten without leaven in a holy place; in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting they should eat it.” (Leviticus 6:9). The verse could have simply stated: “In a holy place,” which indicates the courtyard. By also stating: “In the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting,” the Torah amplified many courtyards with one type of eating, i.e., of the meal offering. If the chambers do not have sanctity by Torah law, the rabbis would not have permitted the priests to eat offerings of the most sacred order there.