benignuman: just checked the tosfos, but the tosfos makes the shiur we are talking about more problematic. Tosfos says that the height of a person is “four amos” and says that the mikveh is enough to be three amos because when the person immerses himself, the water rises. Now, if we maintain that a person’s height is FOUR amos, what does that make the actual amoh? It is almost impossible to accept the Chazon Ish shiur of sixty centimeter [24 inches] as this would make a person’s normal height 2.40 meter high! (eight feet!). It is almost a given that we have to accept the Chassam Sofer or R’Noeh’s shiur that is 45-48 centimeter and that would make a normal person’s height a manageable 1.80 – 1-92 centimeter (appx. six feet four inches). Still very high for the size of men two thousand years ago but possible. However, this would make the height of the mechitza three amos -shoulder high- and that would be 135 centimeter[53 inches] and maximum 144 centimeter [57 inches]. This is either 4 feet 5 inches or 4 feet 9 inches. This would be roughly shoulder high of today’s average person.
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