[Avodah] questions re Mizbeach Adamah and walls of Mishkan

[T613K at aol.com]

from Vayakhel-Pekudei
 
I have three questions, maybe the learned chevrah here know the answers and 
 can save me doing further research
 
1.  How did they fill the Mizbeach , aka the Mizbeach Adamah,  with dirt?  
This mizbeach was hollow and was filled with dirt AIUI  only when they 
camped, presumably to make it more solid and stable.  But  how did they fill it?  
Picture a cardboard box, turned upside down, with  its open side lying face 
down on the ground.  Suppose you now wanted to  fill that box with sand.  
How would you do it?  You could turn it  right-side up to fill it, but when 
you turned it back over, a lot of the sand  would spill out.  You could punch 
holes in the bottom (which is now the  top), fill it that way and then plug 
or tape over the holes.  You could  make a mound of sand or mud in the size 
and shape of the box before placing the  box over it.  Which of these 
methods did they use, or is the correct answer  OTHER?  
 
 
2.  How did they hold the walls (sides) of the mizbeach  together?  Did 
they hammer the wooden sides together with hammers and  nails?  No nails are 
mentioned in the Chumash, but neither is any other  method.  Did they use 
glue? Did they notch the ends so that protruding  bits of wood on the end of one 
side fit into matching holes on the end of the  next side, like pegs in 
holes?  Other?
 
 
3.  When it came time to erect the mishkan, the slabs of wood were so  high 
and so heavy that Moshe Rabeinu couldn't manage to get the walls up, so a  
miracle occurred (says Rashi) and the walls stood up by themselves.  Was  
this a one-time miracle in Moshe's honor?  Why did he have to do it  himself, 
anyway?  Why not get several men together to put the walls  up?  And can we 
assume that whenever they took apart the mishkan and put it  back together 
during their travels in the desert (other than that first time),  the job was 
done by groups of men rather than a single man?  Or do we  assume that a 
new miracle had to occur each time they camped, in order to erect  the mishkan 
in the new place?
 

--Toby Katz
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