[Avodah] Are there any chemists on Avodah?

[Hankman]

I had asked in a previous post:

Also does the fingernail rule only apply to the individual stone aggregate, or to the entire surface after removal of the form. If so, the aggregate-mortar joints must have been near perfect - almost like a polished surface!? Also does this fingernail rule apply to stone aggregate buried in the interior of the mizbeach and never visible at its surface? If yes - you will never know whether during construction a stone in the interior became scratched and made the mizbeach pasul!

I have since found that:

The sugia is in Chulin 18a and the meforshim there discuss it. The gemara says the pegimas hamizbeach is kdai shtachgor es hatsiporen. Then the gm' brings a breisa stating that RSB'I holds the shiur pegimas hamizbeach is a tefach and REB'Y holds it's a czayis. Then the gm' explains the breisa does not contradict the previous gm'. One is b'sida (plaster) and the other is b'avna (stone). Most meforshim assume the shiur of the nail is for the stone and the shiur of the breisa is for the plaster but some meforshim have it reversed.

It also seems that it should make no difference whether the stones are on the surface or in the interior of the mizbeach as the psul originates in the requirement of shlaimos. This of course leaves my final question unanswered for which you can give a simple (if very tedious for the actual workers building the mizbeach) balabatishe answer that they were extremely careful in the placement of each stone in the huge 32 X 32 X 9 (roughly) amo volume. I.e., these stones were of necessity not placed the way we place concrete into forms today poured en mass, but each piece of the aggregate (smooth stone) had to be placed carefully, and then carefully surrounded by the mortar, (unless the mortar was sufficiently fluid to flow through the stone matrix under gravity).

Correct me if you think I have it wrong.

Kol tuv

Chaim Manaster
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