Halakhah for Bava Batra 5:24

ומנלן דהוה גבוה טפי דכתיב (חגי ב, ט) גדול יהיה כבוד הבית הזה האחרון מן הראשון רב ושמואל ואמרי לה ר' יוחנן ור"א חד אמר בבנין וחד אמר

This, however, is the case only if it is filled with mortar,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Made only of clay or mud. ');">²⁰</span> but if with rubble,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In which small stones are mixed with the clay. ');">²¹</span> more space is required. Some say: This is the case only if it is filled with rubble, but if mortar is used, not so much is required. [The Mishnah seems] to assume that where squared stones are used, if for every four cubits of height there is a breadth of five handbreadths, the wall will stand, but otherwise not. What then of the Ammah Traksin<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'the cubit of the partition' (perhaps =[G]): a wall separating the Holy from the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Solomon. ');">²²</span> which was thirty cubits high but only six handbreadths broad, and yet it stood? — The one extra handbreadth enabled it to stand.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., although five handbreadths are required for a height of four cubits, six handbreadths will sustain a wall much higher. ');">²³</span> Why was there no Ammah Traksin in the Second Temple?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Where only a curtain separated the Holy from the Holy of Holies. ');">²⁴</span> — A thickness of six handbreadths will sustain a wall of thirty cubits but not more.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The Second Temple was 100 cubits high. v. Mid. IV, 6. ');">²⁵</span> How do we know that the Second Temple Was higher [than the first]? — Because it is written, Greater shall be the glory of the latter' house than the former.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hag. II, 9. ');">²⁶</span> [The word 'greater' was interpreted differently by] Rab and Samuel [or, according to another report, by R. Johanan and R. Eleazar], one referring it to the size and the other

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