The eastern gate that led from the Ezras Nashim to the Ezras Yisrael was called the Nikanor Gate. The double doors of this gate were covered in intricately embossed copper. Even when the other gates were later covered in gold, the Nikanor gate was left in its original copper design.
According to the Talmud Bavli, these beautiful gates were donated to the Beis Hamikdash by a Jew named Nikanor. He commissioned them to be made by the finest craftsmen in Alexandria and transported them to Jerusalem. The Gemara records a well-known miracle that happened with these gates, as a reward for Nikanor's sacrifice in bringing them.
However the Talmud Yerushalmi that offers a different explanation for the name of this gate.
Nikanor was a Selucid Greek general, an enemy of the Jewish people who threatened to destroy Jerusalem and the Temple. When the Chashmonaim defeated him, they cut off his head, hands and feet and hung them at the eastern gate of the Temple. This is how the gate came to be called the Nikanor Gate.
It makes sense to name the gate after its donor. But why would the main gate of the Temple courtyard be named after such an evil person?
The name was given to make an eternal remembrance and celebrate the victory over our enemies and to give thanks to Hashem.
This week, 2 of the most senior terrorists who threatened the Holy Land and its inhabitants, were killed. Let us remember this moment of victory and thank Hashem for delivering our enemies into our hands.
