Hey there, and welcome back to Take One, the podcast that brings you just one

surprising page of Talmud each day.

And I say surprising, because on today's pages, Menachot 98 and 99, we learn the following fact.

Behold, the Gamara discusses the depiction of Shushan the capital.

We learned in a Mishnah there.

One of the five gates of the Temple Mount was the eastern gate upon which

Shushan, the capital, was depicted. So naturally, the Gamara goes on to ask why? Why depict Shushan?

Remember Shushan from the poem story? Why depict that city on the gate of the Holy Temple Mount? Answers and explanations about.

There is a dispute with regard to this matter between Rav Christa and Ravitschakbar of Dimi.

One said that Shushan was depicted so that those who passed through the gate would know from

where it was that they had come back to Jerusalem. The Jews returned once Persia had

conquered Babylonia and therefore they should give thanks to the Persian Empire for releasing them

from exile. And once said that it was depicted so that the fear of the Persian Empire would be upon

them to prevent them from rebellion. The late great Rabbi Adin Steinsals sheds even more light on the situation.

According to rabbinic tradition, he explains, the second temple period began with the proclamation

made by King Cyrus of Persia, who permitted a return of Jews to the land of Israel and the

rebuilding of the temple.

Even after the rebuilding of the temple,

the Jewish community in Israel remained part of the Persian Empire until it's captured by

Alexander the Great, an event that began the era of Greek rule. Now, with this in mind,

Ravadin Sazas explains Rashi explains the first suggestion as follows. The people were reminded

that they were given permission

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