Mesorat%20hashas for Bava Batra 242:4

רבה ורב יוסף דאמרי תרוייהו יום שפוסקין בו מלכרות עצים למערכה תניא רבי אליעזר הגדול אומר כיון שהגיע חמשה עשר באב תשש כחה של חמה ולא היו כורתין עצים למערכה אמר רב מנשה וקרו ליה יום תבר מגל

did not decompose;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [During the long period in which the slain were left lying in the open field, owing to Hadrian's decree forbidding their interment.] ');">¹³</span> 'and dealest kindly' [was instituted] because they obtained burial. Both Rabbah and R. Joseph said: [It was] the day on which they ceased cutting wood for the altar.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [H] lit., 'arrangement', i.e., the pile of wood arranged on the Temple altar. ');">¹⁴</span> It was taught: R. Eliezer the Great said: As soon as the fifteenth of Ab arrived, the power of the sun weakened and they chopped no [more] wood for the altar.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' All wood for the altar had to be chopped during the period when the sun shone in full strength, i.e., from the month of Nisan to the fifteenth of Ab. Any wood chopped later than that period was considered unsuitable for the altar on account of the dampness in it which produced smoke and generated worms (v. Mid. 11, 5). ');">¹⁵</span>

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