Shabbat 98b (צח:) — the Talmud in English

He said:

he answered

with pegs:

Those wagons were not solid underneath; rather, there were pegs at their bottom, with spaces between them. Therefore, the public domain beneath them was not roofed over by the wagon.

The Sages taught in a baraita: The boards were one cubit thick below, while above they gradually narrowed until they were as thick as a finger. As it is stated regarding the boards: “And together

they shall be complete at its top

” [of the board], and elsewhere it says: “They were finished,

they were cut off

[they ended]

.”

Thus, we learn that here too the boards narrowed toward their upper ends,

the statement of Rabbi Yehuda.

Rabbi Neḥemya says: Just as below they were one cubit thick, so too above they were one cubit thick, as it is stated: “

And

together

they shall be complete at its top,” meaning that their ends should be equal all the way to their tops.

And we challenge Rabbi Neḥemya’s view:

But is it not written: “Complete”

—which indicates that they were complete and narrowed toward their tops?!

And we answer:

That

“complete” was not stated to teach that they were complete and narrowed toward their tops. Rather, it teaches

that they should bring

boards

that are whole

[from the expression “complete”],

and they should not bring boards that are sawn

[that is, they should bring boards made from a single piece of wood, and not from pieces of wood joined together].

And we challenge:

And the other one,

Rabbi Yehuda,

also, is it not written: “Together”

—which indicates that they were not narrowed above?!

That “

together” comes to teach

that they should not protrude from one another

[one board should not enter while another board projects; rather, all the boards should stand evenly, with the thickness of one board alongside the thickness of the next].

There were twenty boards on the northern side and twenty on the southern side. On the western side, opposite the entrance to the Tabernacle [there were no boards], there were eight boards.

The interior of the Tabernacle was thirty cubits by ten cubits. Each board surrounding it was one and a half cubits wide. The six boards on the western side occupied nine cubits of the width of the Tabernacle. Therefore, half a cubit was lacking at the northwestern corner and half a cubit at the southwestern corner. For this reason, they placed boards at the corners on both sides, each one and a half cubits wide, in such a way that half a cubit of the board’s width stood opposite the interior of the Tabernacle, while one cubit of the width of each board stood opposite the thickness of the northern and southern walls.

We further challenge:

Granted, according to the one who says: “Just as below they were one cubit thick, so above they were one cubit thick,”

this is what is written: “And for the rear of the Tabernacle, westward,

[the back of the Tabernacle, on its western side],

you shall make six

boards, and two boards you shall make for the corners

[the corners of the Tabernacle], “the Tabernacle at its rear.”

It follows

that the width of these

[the boards at the corners]

fills the thickness of these

[the northern and southern boards]. For one cubit of each corner board remained unseen inside the Tabernacle, and it equaled the thickness of the northern and southern boards, which was one cubit. When one looked at the Tabernacle from behind, one saw a straight, complete corner formed by the boards.

But according to the one who says that the Tabernacle’s

boards

were one cubit thick below, while

they

gradually narrowed above

from their rear

until they were as thick as a finger,

it follows that

this one enters and this one projects

[one enters and one projects]?!

That is, in order to cover the thickness of the boards, a full cubit was not needed along the entire height of the board, because above, its thickness gradually diminished until it was only a finger thick. The corner board, however, was one and a half cubits wide all the way up. Consequently, one looking from the sides of the Tabernacle would see at the corner a recess in the boards relative to the corner board: “this one enters,” meaning the boards recede, and “this one projects,” meaning the corner board projects beyond them. And we answer:

They were planed like mountains

[the corner boards were planed to remove their projection behind the other boards. Thus, the corner boards were sloped on two sides, at their rear and at their side, like a mountain]—

That is, they planed away the projection created by the corner board, reducing the width of the board along a slope corresponding to the slope of the board against which it abutted and whose thickness it covered. Since, according to the view that they “gradually narrowed until they were as thick as a finger,” the boards were also sloped at their rear, they were sloped on both sides, like mountains.

The boards of the Tabernacle were joined to one another by three bars made of acacia wood: a bar above, a bar below, and a bar in the middle. The upper and lower bars differed from the middle bar [the “middle one”] in two respects: The first: The upper and lower bars were inserted through rings attached behind the board, whereas the middle bar was placed within the thickness of the board.

The second: The upper and lower bars did not join all the boards of the Tabernacle together. Rather, one bar joined five boards above, and one bar joined five boards below,

and so on. The middle bar, however, was a single bar, and it surrounded the boards of the Tabernacle, which were arranged in the shape of a het. It is written:

“And the middle bar within

the [the thicknesses of the]

boards

extended from one end [at the northeastern corner of the Tabernacle] to the other end [at the southeastern corner of the Tabernacle]”:

The tanna

in the baraita said:

It stood by means of a miracle:

the middle bar, since it was bent like a het from one end to the other.

It is stated regarding the lower curtains that were over the roof of the Tabernacle itself:

“And you shall make the Tabernacle ten curtains. The length of one curtain shall be twenty-eight

cubits

[this length was placed across the width of the Tabernacle, from north to south], and the width [of the curtain, which was placed along the length of the Tabernacle, from east to west] of one curtain shall be four cubits, one measure for all the curtains. Five curtains shall be joined

one to another [joined so that the length of one curtain was alongside the length of the next], and five curtains shall be joined one to another [and this joined section too was twenty cubits wide].”

The Gemara explains how the curtains were placed over the Tabernacle and what they covered. There is a difference in this matter between Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, who disagree regarding the thickness of the boards above:

Place their lengths across the width of the Tabernacle

[place the length of the curtains across the width of the Tabernacle]—

How much is it?

Twenty-eight

[What was the length of the lower curtain? It was, after all, twenty-eight cubits]—

Subtract ten for the roof

[“take out” ten cubits from the curtain, which covered the roof of the Tabernacle’s interior, whose width was ten cubits]—

There remain: nine on this side and nine on that side

[eighteen cubits remained, divided equally between the two sides of the Tabernacle’s interior: nine to the north of its interior and nine to the south]. Since the tanna’im disagreed regarding the thickness of the boards above, it follows that

according to Rabbi Yehuda,

who maintains that their thickness above was only a finger,

one cubit of the sockets

[was exposed, without curtain covering]

—that is, the curtains reached the sockets, which were one cubit high above the ground and covered the bottom cubit of the board. For according to his view, the board had no thickness above other than a finger, and the curtains lay upon the height of the board at a slope. Thus, the remaining nine cubits of the curtain covered nine cubits of the board’s height from the sockets upward.

But

according to Rabbi Neḥemya, one cubit of the sockets is exposed,

and, in addition,

one cubit of the boards.

For one cubit out of the nine cubits remaining in the curtain on the northern or southern side was needed to cover the thickness of the board, leaving only eight cubits to cover the board’s height. The cubit within the sockets and the cubit above it therefore remained exposed and were not covered by the curtain.

After the Gemara explained how far the length of a curtain placed across the width of the Tabernacle reached, it further explains how far the combined width of the curtains [which was forty cubits] covered the length of the Tabernacle, whose interior was thirty cubits. Here too, there is a difference between the views of the tanna’im:

Place their widths along the length of the Tabernacle

[place the width of the curtains along the length of the Tabernacle]—

How much is it

[the width of all ten curtains together]?

Forty

cubits.

Subtract thirty for the roof

[“take out” from the width of the curtains thirty cubits to cover the roof of the Tabernacle’s interior, which was thirty cubits]—

there remain

ten

[ten cubits remained] on the western side of the Tabernacle’s interior:

According to Rabbi Yehuda,

who maintains that the thickness of the western boards was only a finger, these ten cubits remained to cover the entire height of the western boards, and

it is covered,

behind the Tabernacle, even

the cubit of the sockets.

But

according to Rabbi Neḥemya,

who required that the thickness of the board above, which was one cubit, also be covered, only nine cubits remained to cover the height of the western board. It follows that

it is exposed

behind the Tabernacle:

the cubit of the sockets,

which the width of the curtains was insufficient to cover.

The Gemara further explains how the goat-hair curtains, which were placed over the lower curtains and exceeded them both in length and width, covered the Tabernacle and the boards, and how this differs according to the views of the tanna’im:

“And you shall make curtains of goat hair for a tent

over the Tabernacle; you shall make them eleven curtains [unlike the lower curtains, which numbered only ten].

The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits

[two cubits more than those beneath it], and the width of one curtain shall be four cubits [like the lower curtains], one measure for the eleven curtains. You shall join five curtains separately [the width of the joined section being twenty cubits] and six curtains separately [the width of this joined section being twenty-four cubits]. You shall double the sixth curtain [which exceeds the curtains beneath it] toward the front of the tent [that is, fold the excess curtain and place half its width toward the east]. The excess that remains in the tent curtains [that is, the excess created by that curtain, which exceeded the lower curtains and whose half-width you have already placed toward the east]—half of the excess curtain shall hang over the rear of the Tabernacle [toward the west]. And the cubit on this side and the cubit on that side of the excess in the length of the tent curtains [for the lower curtains were twenty-eight cubits long, whereas the upper ones were two cubits longer, and the entire curtain was placed across the width of the Tabernacle] shall hang over the sides of the Tabernacle, on this side and on that side [north and south], to cover it [to cover what the lower curtains did not cover].”

Place their lengths across the width of the Tabernacle

[place the length of the curtains across the width of the Tabernacle].

How much is it?

Thirty

[What was their length? It was, after all, thirty cubits]—

Subtract ten for the roof; there remain: ten on this side and ten on that side,

[“take out” ten cubits from them to cover the roof of the Tabernacle’s interior, which was ten cubits wide. Twenty remain, divided as follows: ten to the north of the Tabernacle’s interior and ten cubits to its south]. It follows that

according to Rabbi Yehuda,

who maintains that the board’s thickness above was only a finger,

it covers

even

the cubit of the sockets, since the curtains did not need to cover the thickness of the board. Rather, they were placed upon it at a slope, and ten cubits of curtain length sufficed to cover the entire ten-cubit height of the board together with the cubit within the sockets.

But

according to Rabbi Neḥemya,

who maintains that the board was also one cubit thick above,

the cubit of the sockets is exposed.

For of the ten cubits remaining, one cubit was needed to cover the thickness of the boards, leaving only nine cubits to cover the board, whose height together with the cubit of the sockets was ten cubits.

It was taught likewise:

It is written regarding the goat-hair curtains:

“And the cubit on this side and the cubit on that side of the excess

of the tent curtains [which exceeded the lower curtains] shall hang over the sides of the Tabernacle, on this side and on that side, to cover it [to cover what the lower curtains did not cover].” The tanna’im disagreed regarding which cubit on each side the goat-hair curtains covered beyond what the lower curtains covered:

To cover the cubit of the sockets,

which, according to Rabbi Yehuda, remained exposed under the lower curtains,

the statement of Rabbi Yehuda.

Rabbi Neḥemya says: To cover the cubit of the boards

which, according to him, remained exposed above the sockets under the lower curtains; however, the cubit of the sockets was not covered even by the goat-hair curtains.

The Gemara further explains how the goat-hair curtains, whose combined width exceeded that of the lower curtains by four cubits, covered the Tabernacle according to the views of the tanna’im, and how the verse is interpreted according to their views:

Place their widths along the length of the Tabernacle

[place the width of the curtains along the length of the Tabernacle].

How much is it,

the width of all the curtains?

Forty-four

cubits.

Subtract thirty

cubits

for the roof

[“take out” thirty cubits from them to cover the roof of the Tabernacle’s interior, from east to west].

There remain fourteen

[fourteen cubits of the curtains’ width remained].

Subtract two

cubits

for the fold

[“take out” two cubits from the curtains, which were folded and descended toward the eastern side],

as it is written: “You shall double the sixth curtain toward the front of the tent.” There remain

twelve

[twelve cubits remain]. If you come to cover the western boards, only ten cubits are needed according to Rabbi Yehuda, whereas according to Rabbi Neḥemya eleven cubits are needed. It follows that according to Rabbi Yehuda two cubits hung down onto the ground behind the Tabernacle, while according to Rabbi Neḥemya only one did.