Shabbat 98b — the Talmud in English

He said

he answered:

“With stakes”,

those wagons were not sealed below; rather, there were stakes at their bottom, with space between them, and it follows that the public domain beneath them was not roofed over by the wagon.

The Sages taught: The boards, below their thickness was one cubit, and above they gradually became narrower until [their thickness was] like a finger. As it is stated concerning the boards: “And together

they

shall be complete at its top

[of the board],”

and there it says: “They were finished

[they ended],

they were cut off.”

Thus we have learned that here too the boards became narrower at the height of their tops,

the words of Rabbi Yehuda.

Rabbi Nehemiah says: Just as below their thickness was one cubit, so above their thickness was one cubit, as it is stated

“and

together

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

And we raise a difficulty according to Rabbi Nehemiah:

But it is written: “Complete,”

and the meaning is that they were complete and became narrower at their tops!?

And we answer:

That “complete” did not come to say that they were complete and became narrower, but to teach:

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

that they should bring

boards

whole

[from the language “complete”],

and they should not bring boards of planks

[they should bring boards made from a single piece of wood, and not from pieces of wood joined to one another].

And we raise a difficulty:

But the other one,

Rabbi Yehuda,

also, it is written: “Together,”

and the meaning is that they did not become narrower above!?

That “together” came to teach

that

they should not be displaced from one another

[one board should not enter while another board protrudes], but all the boards should stand evenly, the thickness of this board alongside the thickness of that board.

There were twenty boards on the northern side, and twenty on the southern side, while on the western side, which was opposite the entrance of the Tabernacle [there were no boards there], there were eight boards.

The interior of the Tabernacle was thirty cubits by ten cubits. The width of each board surrounding it was one and a half cubits. The six boards on the west occupied nine cubits of the width of the Tabernacle. Therefore, half a cubit was missing at the northwestern corner and half a cubit at the southwestern corner. Therefore, at the corners on both sides they placed boards, each one of which was one and a half cubits wide, in such a manner that half a cubit of the width of the board 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 raise a difficulty:

Granted, according to the one who says: “Just as below their thickness was one cubit, so above their thickness was one cubit,”

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

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

you shall make six

boards, and two boards you shall make for the corners

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

And it follows

that the width of these

[of the boards at the corners]

fills the thickness of these

[the width of the boards at the corners comes and covers the thickness of the northern and southern boards], for from each board at the corner there remained one cubit of width that was not visible inside the Tabernacle, and it equaled the thickness of the northern and southern boards, which was one cubit. And when you look from behind the Tabernacle, you see a straight and complete angle of the boards.

But according to the one who says

the boards of the Tabernacle

below their thickness was one cubit,

while

above they gradually became narrower

from their rear

until [their thickness was] like a finger,

if so, it follows that

this one enters and this one protrudes

[this one enters and this one protrudes]!?

That is to say, in order to cover the thickness of the boards, a full cubit is not needed for the entire height of the board, because above the thickness gradually ends until it is like a finger, whereas the width of the board at the corner was one and a half cubits wide all the way to the top. It follows that one who looks from the sides of the Tabernacle sees at the corner a recess of the boards in relation to the board at the corner: “this one enters,” the boards enter, “and this one protrudes,” the board at the corner protrudes beyond them. And we answer:

They were planed like mountains

[the boards at the corners were planed to remove their protrusion behind the boards, and the boards at the corners were found to be slanted on two sides, behind them and on their side, like a mountain]—

That is to say, the same protrusion that was created by the board at the corner was planed away, reducing the width of a board at an angle, corresponding to the slant of the board against which it abutted and whose thickness it covered. And since even behind them they were slanted, according to the one who holds that they “gradually became narrower until [their thickness was] like a finger,” it follows that they were slanted on their two sides, like mountains.

The boards of the Tabernacle were joined to one another by means of three bars made of acacia wood: a bar above, a bar below, and a bar in the middle. However, the upper and lower bars differed from the middle bar [“the central one”] in two matters:

The first: the upper and lower bars were passed through rings that he placed 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 as one, but there was one bar for five boards above, and one bar for five boards below, and so on. But the middle bar was one and unique, and it surrounded the boards of the Tabernacle, which were made in the shape of a het.

It is written:

“And the middle bar within

[the thicknesses of the]

boards

passed from end to end [at the northeastern corner of the Tabernacle to the end [at the southeastern corner of the Tabernacle].”

The tanna

in a beraita said:

“It stood by means of a miracle,”

the middle bar, for it was bent in the shape of a het from end to end.

It is stated concerning the lower curtains, which 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

[and this length was placed over 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] four cubits for the one curtain, one measure for all the curtains. Five curtains shall be joined [attached, with the length of one curtain beside the length of its fellow] one to another [and the width of the joined unit is found to be twenty cubits], and five curtains shall be joined one to another [and it too is twenty cubits wide].”

The Gemara explains how the curtains were placed over the Tabernacle and what they covered, and because there is a difference in this between Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Nehemiah, who disagree concerning the thickness of the boards above:

“Place their lengths along the width of the Tabernacle”

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

How much is it?

Twenty-eight

[how long is the lower curtain, is it not twenty-eight cubits?]—

Subtract ten for the roof

[remove ten cubits from the curtain, which spread over the roof of the interior of the Tabernacle, 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 interior of the Tabernacle: nine to the north of the interior of the Tabernacle and nine to the south of the interior of the Tabernacle]. And since the tannaim disagree concerning the thickness of the boards above, it follows that

according to Rabbi Yehuda,

who holds that their thickness above was only like a finger,

the cubit of the sockets is exposed

[it was exposed, without the covering of a curtain]

[the] cubit of the sockets,

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

But

according to Rabbi Nehemiah, the cubit is exposed,

along with the cubit of the sockets, another

cubit of the boards.

For one cubit out of the nine cubits remaining in the curtain on the northern or southern side was intended to cover the thickness of the board, and only eight cubits remained to cover the height of the board. Thus the cubit within the sockets together with the cubit above it remained exposed and were not covered by the curtain.

After the Gemara explained how far the length of a curtain, whose length was placed along the width of the Tabernacle, covered, the Gemara further explains how far the width of the curtains together [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 tannaim:

“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 the ten curtains together]?

Forty

cubits.

Subtract thirty for the roof

[remove from the width of the curtains thirty cubits to cover the roof of the interior of the Tabernacle, which was thirty cubits]—

there remain

ten

[ten cubits remained] for the western side of the interior of the Tabernacle:

According to Rabbi Yehuda,

who holds that the thickness of the western boards was only like a finger, these ten cubits remained in order to cover the entire height of the boards on the west, and

it is covered,

behind the Tabernacle, even

the cubit of the sockets.

But

according to Rabbi Nehemiah,

who needed to cover also the thickness of the board above, which was one cubit, it follows that only nine cubits remained to cover the height of the western board, and it follows that

there 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 in width, covered the Tabernacle and the boards, and the difference in this according to the views of the tannaim:

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

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

The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits

[two cubits more than those beneath it], and its width four cubits for the one curtain [like the lower curtains], one measure for the eleven curtains. And you shall join the five curtains separately [the width of the joined unit being twenty cubits] and the six curtains separately [the width of this joined unit being twenty-four cubits], and you shall fold 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]. And the excess that hangs over in the curtains of the tent [that is, the excess created in the curtains by that curtain which exceeds the lower curtains, half of whose 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 curtains of the tent [for the lower curtains were twenty-eight cubits, whereas the upper ones were two cubits longer, and the entire curtain was placed along the width of the Tabernacle] shall hang over the sides of the Tabernacle, on this side and on that side [in the north and south], to cover it [to cover what the lower curtains did not cover].”

“Place their lengths along the width of the Tabernacle”

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

how much is it?

Thirty

[what was their length, is it not thirty cubits]—

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

[remove ten cubits from them for covering the roof of the interior of the Tabernacle, which was ten cubits; twenty remain in your possession, divided as follows: ten to the north of the interior of the Tabernacle and ten cubits to the south of the interior of the Tabernacle], and it follows that

according to Rabbi Yehuda,

who holds that the board has no thickness above other than like a finger,

it covers

even

the cubit of the sockets,

for they did not need to cover the thickness of the board; rather, they were placed upon it at a slant, and ten cubits of curtain length suffice to cover the ten cubits that are the height of the entire board together with the cubit placed in the sockets.

But

according to Rabbi Nehemiah,

who holds that the thickness of the board was also one cubit above,

the cubit of the sockets is exposed.

For of the ten cubits that remained, we needed one cubit to cover the thickness of the boards, and only nine cubits remained to cover the board, whose height together with the cubit of the sockets was ten cubits.

It was also taught so:

It is written concerning the goat-hair curtains:

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

of the curtains of the tent [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].” And the tannaim disagreed as to 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 in the lower curtains,

the words of Rabbi Yehuda.

Rabbi Nehemiah says: To cover the cubit of the boards,

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

The Gemara further explains how the goat-hair curtains, whose total width exceeded that of the lower curtains by four cubits, covered the Tabernacle according to the views of the tannaim, and the interpretation of the verse 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

[remove thirty cubits from them to cover the roof of the interior of the Tabernacle from east to west].

There remain fourteen

[fourteen cubits of the width of the curtains remained].

Subtract two

cubits

for the folding

[remove from the curtains two cubits that were folded and descended toward the eastern side],

as it is written: “And you shall fold the sixth curtain toward the front of the tent.” There remain

twelve

[twelve cubits remain in your possession]. If you come to cover the boards on the west, only ten cubits are needed according to Rabbi Yehuda, whereas according to Rabbi Nehemiah eleven cubits are needed. It follows that according to Rabbi Yehuda two cubits hung over the ground behind the Tabernacle, whereas according to Rabbi Nehemiah only one did.

And the Gemara asks: Surely from the written text it can be learned that the measure of the width of the curtain that trailed on the ground behind the Mishkan was two cubits, in accordance with Rabbi Judah, for

granted, according to Rabbi Judah, this is what is written, “the half of the extra curtain

[above the lower curtains, which numbered only ten curtains, and concerning half of it the Torah had already said that it was to be placed on the eastern side,]

shall trail

behind the Mishkan,” and this is according to its plain meaning: two cubits trailed on the ground behind the Mishkan.

But according to Rabbi Nehemiah, what is “it shall trail”?” That is to say: the thickness of the boards reduced that curtain by one cubit, and if so, only one cubit trailed on the ground; and what is the meaning of “the half of the extra curtain” that he says was two cubits? And we answer:

It shall trail from its companions.

That is to say: it was two cubits longer than its companions—one cubit to cover the sockets, and one cubit trailing on the ground.

That is, it extended two cubits beyond its neighboring curtains: one cubit to cover the sockets, and one cubit to trail along the ground.

The tanna of the school of Rabbi Ishmael said: To what is the Mishkan comparable? To a woman who walks in the marketplace, and whose hems walk behind her

[the hems of her garments trail behind her on the ground]. So were the curtains of the Mishkan: they trailed behind the Mishkan on the ground.

It is written [Exodus 26:17]: “Two tenons [like legs] for the one board, interlocked [made like the rungs of a ladder, separated from one another, and their ends tapered so as to enter into the hollow of the socket], each one toward its fellow [directed one opposite the other]. So shall you make for all the boards of the Mishkan. And forty silver sockets you shall make beneath the twenty boards. Two sockets beneath the one board for its two tenons [each tenon enters into one socket], and two sockets beneath the one board for its two tenons.”

The Sages taught: The boards were grooved

at their bottoms, so that the thickness of the walls of the sockets would enter into them. And this is how they would make them: They would cut into the bottom of the board a groove one cubit high and half a cubit wide, so that at its bottom, on both sides of its width, two tenons remained, the width of each one half a cubit, one cubit thick, and one cubit high [for the thickness of a board was one cubit, the width of the board was one and a half cubits, and the depth of the groove was one cubit], in order to place each tenon into one socket. And he would further cut the two tenons on their outer sides, to the thickness of the width of the wall of the socket, so that the board would “sit” upon the wall of the socket; and if he did not do so, the thickness of the sockets would separate the boards.

And the sockets were hollow,

and the tenons would enter into that hollow.