Study Shabbat folio 98B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Shmuel said: It is referring to the stakes of the Tabernacle. Before the Levites would place the beams on the wagon, they would position the stakes, which were particularly narrow. Therefore, the space between them was greater than 3 handbreadths, and the area beneath the wagons was therefore consi
A baraita states: The Tabernacle beams were 1 cubit thick at the bottom, and they narrowed to a fingerbreadth as they reached the top, as it is stated: “And they shall match at the bottom, and together they will be ended [tamim] at the top toward a single ring; so shall it be for them both, they
The Talmud asks: Isn’t it written: Tamim? The Talmud answers: R' Neḥemya explains that this word teaches that they should bring whole beams and they should not bring planks and attach them. The Talmud asks: And according to the other opinion, R' Yehuda’s opinion, isn’t it written: Together? The Ta
The Talmud asks further: Granted, according to the one who said: Just as they were 1 cubit thick at the bottom, so too, they were 1 cubit thick at the top, it is understandable why it is written: “And for the back of the Tabernacle westward you shall make 6 beams. And you shall make two beams for t
Following the dispute over the Tabernacle beams, the Talmud interprets other verses according to the two positions. It is written: “And the middle bar in the midst of the beams shall pass through from end to end” (Exodus 26:28). One of the rabbis taught: It stood by means of a miracle, as this ver