Sukkah 49A

שכל מזבח שאין לו לא כבש ולא קרן ולא יסוד ולא ריבוע ⁠— פסול לעבודה. רבי יוסי בר יהודה אומר: אף הסובב.

As any altar that lacks a ramp, or a horn, or a base, or the shape of a square, either because it was not erected as a square or due to damage, is disqualified for use in the Temple service. R' Yosei bar Yehuda says: Even the surrounding ledge must be complete, and if it is lacking it disqualifies the altar.

אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן: שיתין, מששת ימי בראשית נבראו, שנאמר: ״חמוקי ירכיך כמו חלאים מעשה ידי אמן״. ״חמוקי ירכיך״⁠ — אלו השיתין. ״כמו חלאים״⁠ — שמחוללין ויורדין עד התהום. ״מעשה ידי אמן״⁠ — זו מעשה ידי אומנותו של הקדוש ברוך הוא. תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל: ״בראשית״, אל תיקרי ״בראשית״, אלא ״ברא שית״.

§ Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that R' Yoḥanan said: The drainpipes [shittin] built into the altar and extending beneath it were created from the 6 days of Creation, as it is stated: “The hidden of your thighs are like the links of a chain, the handiwork of a skilled workman” (Song of Songs 7:2). The Talmud interprets the verse homiletically: “The hidden of your thighs”; these are the drainpipes that are concealed within the altar; “are like the links of a chain [ḥala’im]”; they are hollow [meḥolalin] and descend to the depths; “the handiwork of a skilled workman”; this is the handiwork of God. On a similar note, it was taught in the school of R' Yishmael that it is written: “In the beginning [bereshit]” (Genesis 1:1); do not read it as: Bereshit, but rather as: Bara shit, meaning that God created the pipeline descending from the altar.

תניא, רבי יוסי אומר: שיתין מחוללין ויורדין עד תהום, שנאמר: ״אשירה נא לידידי שירת דודי לכרמו כרם היה לידידי בקרן בן שמן. ויעזקהו ויסקלהו ויטעהו שורק ויבן מגדל בתוכו וגם יקב חצב בו״. ״ויטעהו שורק״⁠ — זה בית המקדש, ״ויבן מגדל בתוכו״⁠ — זה מזבח, ״וגם יקב חצב בו״⁠ — אלו השיתין.

It was taught in a baraita that R' Yosei says: These drainpipes are hollow and descend to the depths, as it is stated: “Let me sing of my well beloved, a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, and he dug it, and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a vat therein” (Isaiah 5:1–2). R' Yosei interprets these verses homiletically as referring to the Temple. “He planted it with the choicest vine”; this is referring to the Temple; “he built a tower therein”; this is referring to the altar; “and hewed out a vat therein”; this is referring to the drainpipes. As the owner of the vineyard is a parable for God, this indicates that the drainpipes are a natural part of Creation.