On 18 Tammuz, 5785 (July 14, 2025 for us gringos), I was studying folio 98 in Masechta Shabbos about the קרשים/planks of the mishkan. I know the date because my rebbi, R' Dovid Siegel, shlita, told me that it is very easy to fool oneself into thinking you understand something when learning without a chavrusa. Therefore, my rebbi told me to write down any and all questions and/or impressions I have while learning to keep myself as honest as possible. (Ok, ok... writing down the date was my own OC idea.)
In any case, the Gemara there discusses the precise shape of the קרשים/planks and how they were loaded on the two carts. The common translation of עצי שיטים is "Acacia wood." It was way more detail than I expected—but, hey, it's Chazal—so I spent quality time on it. It just happened (uh-huh) that they were replacing some old telephone poles in the neighborhood when I was learning that topic (thank you, HaShem), and I determined that each קרש/plank was about the size of two telephone poles placed next to each other. I looked up the density of Acacia wood, which is 40 lbs/ft³, and worked out the total weight, taking the smallest conversion from cubits to feet. It comes out to (in round numbers) about eight tons on each cart. It turns out that is not a crazy amount of weight for modern railcars. It's a stretch, though, for wooden carts with wooden wheels and wooden axles. Not to mention the poor oxen (four of them) that need to pull that thing across the unpaved desert. Perhaps the Ark of the Covenant, for which the land was leveled for their travels, also helped make the roads smoother.
I mentioned that to a chaver at the kollel, and he told me, "Oh no, I saw someplace that they were made of some special material that was very light." Great! Where did you see that? "I'll find it and get back to you." Over the next few months I reminded him once in a while that he owed me a source; he acknowledged that and assured me that he had not forgotten me.
This week, learning the Rashi's on parashas תרומה, I was feeling overwhelmed by the details in the קרשים/planks. The details about the קרשים/planks felt especially onerous; I mean, they're just boards, right? I mean, the holy menorah, and altars, and tables for the showbreads, ok. But boards? I recalled what my chaver had told me, so I glanced over the Ba'al Turim to see if he said anything. Oh wow, did he say something! I decided right then and there that I needed to write this up in a TftD this week. The TftD doesn't usually have anything to do with the current parasha, but if something comes up; why not? I planned to lead with that first paragraph and then add, "Still waiting, my dear chaver (you know who you are), but here's a very cool Ba'al Turim in the meantime."
I turned on my phone this morning and saw a text message from said chaver:
I never forget about you. It's a Chizkuni in this week's parasha! Gut Shabbos! <image of Chizkuni, on 25:5> Also see the Da'as Z'keinim on the same pasuk.
Very cool. Like, I mean, so cool. Indeed, they say it was some special, very light wood. They even said that, "After all, I mean, c'mon—how do you expect four oxen to pull those carts otherwise?!" (That is not Google, rather just my free translation.) The Da'as Z'keinim there uses an old French word. I looked it up, but according to Google, it just means "plank used for building."
What about that Ba'al Turim, which is on 26:15? The word שיטים appears 24 times, corresponding to the 24,000 who died at שיטים in the "Ba'al Peor Incident" (Bamidbar 25). There are 48 planks, corresponding to the 48 prophets and 48 watches of Cohanim and Levi'im. There are 7 בריחים/bars/bolts (that go through the קרשים/planks) that correspond to the seven generations from Avraham to Moshe and also to the seven Shephards (Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Yosef, Moshe, Aaron, and David). The central בריח corresponds to David, who will מבריח האומות מן הקצה/drive away the nations.
So, first, they are not just boards; they are loaded with meaning just like everything else in the mishka. Second... it turns out that HaShem also runs the world down here in Panama. Who would have thought?
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