Shabbat 98B

אמר שמואל: ביתדות.

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 considered an uncovered public domain (ge’onim).

תנו רבנן: קרשים מלמטן עוביין אמה, ומלמעלן כלין והולכין עד כאצבע, שנאמר: ״יהיו תמים על ראשו״, ולהלן הוא אומר: ״תמו נכרתו״. דברי רבי יהודה. רבי נחמיה אומר: כשם שמלמטן עוביין אמה, כך מלמעלן עוביין אמה, שנאמר: ״יחדיו״.

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 should match at the bottom, and together they will be ended [tamim] at the top toward a single ring; so should it be for them both, they should form the two corners” (Exodus 26:24). And below, when the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River, it says: “And those who went down toward the Sea of Arava at the Dead Sea came to an end [tamu]” (Joshua 3:16). Tam means finished or terminated. Here, too, the beams narrowed as they reached the top until they were virtually terminated; this is the statement of R' Yehuda. R' Neḥemya says: Just as they were 1 cubit thick at the bottom, so too, they were 1 cubit thick at the top, as it is stated: Together.

והכתיב ״תמים״! ההוא דליתו שלמין ולא ליתו דניסרא. ואידך נמי, הכתיב ״יחדו״! ההוא דלא לישלחופינהו מהדדי.

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 Talmud answers: That comes to teach that they should not be positioned askew from each other; rather, they should be perfectly aligned.