In one of the first commandments listed after the Ten Commandments, Hashem stipulates, “you shall not ascend through stairs [ma’alot] upon My altar, so that you will not reveal your nakedness upon it” (Ex. 20:23). This verse is the source for the prohibition of building stairs — instead of a ramp — to lead up to the altar in the Tabernacle/Temple. Indeed, Maimonides (Laws of Beit HaBechirah 1:17) codifies this prohibition, and adds that one who violates this prohibition by ascending to the altar via stairs is liable for a flogging. In that passage, Maimonides uses two different Hebrew terms for “stairs”: when first stating the idea that one may not build “stairs” for the altar, he uses the word madreigot, but when codifying the punishment for one who ascends the altar on stairs, he uses the same word as the Bible, ma’alot. Though these two Hebrew words appear to be synonyms, the essay before you explores their respective etymologies, and tries to bring to light the possible nuances expressed by these different terms. Additionally, this essay also delves into the word sulam (usually translated as “ladder”) to see how it fits into the story.

It is virtually unanimous that the word ma’alot derives from the Biblical Hebrew root AYIN-LAMMED-(HEY), which gives us such words as al (“on”), maalah (“above”), maaleh (“raise”), aliyah (“high/height”), and oleh (“ascend”). Following that theme, the word ma’alot as “stairs” represents an instrument by which people may “ascend” to higher floors and reach a different height. Although “stairs” may technically also be used using for going down on the descent, the word ma’alot focuses specifically on “going up” because that is more of novelty as it allows a person to defy gravity. The same phenomenon is found in the English words elevator and escalator, which literally refer “to going up” (think: elevation, escalation), even though those same implements can also be used for going down.

The term ma’alot appears several times in the Mishnah: For example, the Mishnah (Sukkah 5:4) states that the Levites who sang in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem stood on the fifteen “steps” (ma’alot) between the Israelite Courtyard and the Women’s Courtyard. The Mishnah (there) further notes that these fifteen steps correspond to the fifteen Psalms which begin with the words Shir HaMaalot (or Shir La’Maalot), “A song of/for Ascent” (Ps. 120–135). Similarly, the Mishnah (Tamid 3:9) relates that a stone in front of the Menorah (“candelabra”) in the Temple had three steps (ma’alot), upon which the Kohen would stand when setting up the Menorah. In Talmudic Hebrew, the term ma’alyuta (“advantageous,” “superb”) was coined, which refers to something which is a “step up” over something else in an abstract........

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