Tamid 29B

או גרגיר, או אשכול ⁠– מביא ותולה בה. אמר רבי אלעזר ברבי צדוק: מעשה היה, ונמנו עליה שלש מאות כהנים לפנותה.

or grape, or cluster of grapes, would bring it to the Temple and a priest would hang it on the vine. R' Elazar, son of R' Tzadok, said: There was once an incident and 300 priests were enlisted to lift the vine in order to move it, due to its immense weight. This description is an exaggeration, as although the vine was extremely heavy, it did not require 300 priests to lift it.

פרוכת ⁠– דתנן רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר משום רבי שמעון הסגן: פרוכת עביה טפח, על שבעים ושנים נימין נארגת, ועל כל נימה ונימה עשרים וארבעה חוטין.

With regard to Shmuel’s statement that the rabbis exaggerated with regard to the weight of the Curtain, it is as we learned in a Mishnah (Shekalim 21b) that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says in the name of R' Shimon the deputy High Priest: With regard to the Curtain, its thickness is one handbreadth. It is woven from 72 strands of yarn, and each and every strand of those 72 strands is made from 24 threads. The Curtain is fashioned from 4 materials: tekhelet wool, purple wool, scarlet wool, and fine linen, and every strand comprises 6 threads of each material.

ארכה ארבעים אמה, ורחבה עשרים אמה. ומשמונים ושתים ריבוא נעשית, ושתים עושין בכל שנה ושנה, ושלש מאות כהנים מטבילין אותה.

Its length is 40 cubits, corresponding to the height of the entrance to the Sanctuary, and its width is 20 cubits, matching the width of the entrance. And it is made at the cost of 82 10,000s, i.e., 820,000, gold dinars,and two new Curtains are made in each and every year. And the Curtain was so heavy that when it was immersed 300 priests would immerse it.

החלו מעלין בגזירין לסדר את המערכה [וכו׳]. חוץ משל זית ומשל גפן [וכו׳]. הני מאי טעמא? רב פפא אמר: משום דקטרי. רב אחא בר יעקב אמר: משום ישוב דארץ ישראל.

§ The Mishnah teaches: The priests began raising logs onto the altar to assemble the arrangement of wood. Wood from all the trees is fit for the arrangement, except for wood from the olive tree and from the vine. The Talmud asks: What is the reason that wood from these trees is not fit for the arrangement? Rav Pappa said: It is due to the fact that they have thick knots in their branches, which cause the wood to burn poorly and produce excessive smoke. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: Although these trees are unfit for the arrangement primarily because they burn poorly, there is an additional reason: They are not used because using them would deplete the olive trees and grapevines, which would be detrimental to the settlement of Eretz Yisrael.