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Week 137 - Monday - 8 July 2002

PIRKEI AVOT: CHAPTER 5: MISHNAH 4

Ten miracles were performed for our forefathers in Egypt and ten at the Sea. Ten plagues did the Holy One, blessed be He, bring upon the Egyptians in Egypt and ten at the Sea. With ten trials did our forefathers try the Omnipresent, blessed be He, in the wilderness, as it is written (Num, 14:22): "You have put Me to proof these ten times and have not hearkened to My voice."

Kehati

Ten miracles were performed for our forefathers in Egypt - to save them from the plagues which God brought upon the Egyptians in Egypt. Rambam adds in his commentary on the Mishnah: "And these were miracles without doubt, as the Torah indicates in each plague that God brought it upon the Egyptians only (and not upon the children of Israel who lived in their midst) except in the plague of the gnats where this is not clearly stated (that it affected the Egyptians only, for it is written (Ex. 8:14): "and there were gnats upon men and upon beasts," without specifying that it affected the Egyptians only, as the Torah states at the other plagues), but it is known that (in this plague, too,) Israel was not afflicted; for although the gnats were among the Israelites, they did not bother them, and so it is explained by the Sages.

However, concerning the other nine plagues, this is explicitly stated in the Torah, thus: Blood - "And the Egyptians could not drink water from the river" (Ex. 7:21), indicating that only the Egyptians were harmed; Frogs - "And they shall come into your house, and into your bed-chamber… and upon you and upon your people, and upon all your servants..." (Ex. 7:28-29); Swarms - "And I will set apart on that day the land of Goshen... that no swarms of insects shall be there" (ibid. 8: 18); Plague - "but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one" (ibid. 9:6); Boils - "for the boils were upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians" (ibid. 11); Hail- "Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail" (ibid. 26); Locusts - "And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt" (ibid. 10: 14); Darkness - "but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings" (ibid. 23), And likewise in the plague of the first-born.

And ten at the Sea - ten miracles were performed for our ancestors at the Sea. These are not mentioned explicitly in the Torah, but have been transmitted by tradition, and are listed in the Midrash (Tanhuma, Beshalah), and in Avot de Rabbi Natan (Chapt. 33) with slight modifications, as follows (according to the Rambam): 1. "and the waters were divided" (Ex. 14:21); 2. The sea took on the form of a tent, "and the road was like a tunnel in the sea, with the water piled up on the right, on the left, and above" (Rambam); 3. The bottom of the sea became dry, as it is written (ibid. 14:29): "And the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the middle of the sea," "and no mud or clay remained at the seabed as is generally found on riverbeds" (Rambam); 4. The seabed on which the Egyptians stepped in pursuit of the Israelites was full of clay and mud; 5. The sea divided into twelve strips, to let each tribe pass through a separate lane, as it is written (Ps. 136:13): “To Him who divided the Red Sea into parts"; 6. The water congealed and hardened like rocks, as it is written (Ps. 74:13): "You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the waters," indicating that the skulls of the Egyptians were shattered thereon; 7. The solidified waters were not homogeneous, but formed themselves, as it were, into separate building-blocks arranged in a continuous line, as it is written (Ps. 74:13): "By Your strength You broke the sea into pieces," for the greater glory of Israel (Tosefot Yom Tov); 8. The waters froze like glass or crystal, so that the tribes could see each other; 9. There was a flow of sweet drinking-water; and 10. That once they drank their fill, the water froze immediately before it reached the ground, and piled up into heaps, as it is written (Ex. 15:8): "The waters stood upright as a heap; the flowing waters were congealed."

Ten plagues did the Holy One, blessed be He, bring upon the Egyptians in Egypt - Blood, Frogs, Gnats, Swarms of Flies, Beasts, Boils, Hail, Locusts, Darkness and the plague of the First Born. And ten at the Sea - Rambam writes: We learn from Tradition, that more plagues visited the Egyptians at the sea than in Egypt, but all were of the ten kinds which had descended upon them in Egypt, but at the sea they were further divided into different variations. Rashi, however, offers the following comment (based on the Mekhilta, Beshalah): and ten or the sea - as the number of expressions describing the downfall (of the Egyptians) in the Song of the Sea: 1. "He has thrown into the Sea"; 2. "has He cast into the Sea"; 3. "are sunk in the Red Sea"; 4. "the deeps cover them"; 5. "they went into the depths"; 6. "dashes in pieces the enemy"; 7. "You overthrow them that rise up against You"; 8. "it consumes them as stubble"; 9. "the sea covered them"; and 10. "they sank as lead." But the verse, "You stretched out Your right hand - the earth swallowed them" is not included since this was in their favor, in that the Egyptians were allowed burial as a reward for having accompanied Joseph at the funeral of Jacob.

Tosefot Yom Tov (quoting Midrash Sh’muel) explains that the plagues which were visited upon the Egyptians as an exercise of just retribution, the Mishnah attributes explicitly to God, the true Judge, thus – God brought ten plagues upon the Egyptians; whereas the miracles experienced by our forefathers are not specifically attributed to God, for having engaged in idol worship while in Egypt, our ancestors could not rightfully claim a miraculous intervention on their behalf."

With ten trials did our forefathers try the Omnipresent, blessed be He, in the wilderness, as it is written: "You have put Me to proof these ten times and have not hearkened to My voice" - these ten trials are: 1. At the Sea of Reeds, where they said: "because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?" (Ex. 14:11); 2. At Marah: "And the people murmured against Moses, saying: 'What shall we drink?' " (ibid. 15:24); 3. In the wilderness of Sin: "Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots" (ibid. 16:3); 4. In connection with the Manna; "Not withstanding, they hearkened not unto Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning" (ibid. 20); 5. In the same context: "And it came to pass on the seventh day, that there went out some of the people to gather" (ibid. 27); 6. At Refidim: "Wherefore the people strove with Moses and said, 'Give us water, that we may drink' " (ibid. 17:2); 7. At Horev, during the golden calf apostasy: "the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him: 'Arise and make us a god' " (ibid. 32:1); 8. At Taverah: "And the people were as murmurers" (Num. 11:1); 9. At Kivrot Hata'avah: "And the mixed multitude that were among them fell a lusting... and said: 'Would that we were given flesh to eat!'" (ibid 4); and 10. In the wilderness of Paran, during the incident of the spies, we read: "yet have put me to proof these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice." Our Sages comment (Arakh. 15a): "We hereby learn that the judgment against our forefathers (that they were not to enter the Promised Land) in the wilderness was sealed only for the sin of evil speech, as it is written: "yet have put me to proof these ten times," the term ; (lit. this, sing. - tr.) denoting that for the sin of defamation, committed by the spies, Israel was doomed. In the Gemara (Arakh. ibid.), and also in Avot de Rabbi Natan (Chapt. 34), the "ten trials” are listed with slight variations.

PIRKEI AVOT: CHAPTER 5: MISHNAH 5

Ten miracles were performed for our fathers in the Temple: No woman ever miscarried from the odor of the sacrificial flesh; the sacrificial flesh never became putrid; no fly was ever seen in the slaughterhouse; no pollution ever befell the High Priest on Yom Kippur; the rains never extinguished the fire of the woodpile on the altar; the wind never prevailed over the column of smoke; there was never found a disqualifying defect in the Omer or in the Two Loaves, or in the Shewbread; the people stood tightly pressed together, yet prostrated themselves at ease; neither snake nor scorpion ever injured anyone in Jerusalem; and no man ever said to his fellow: The space is too narrow for me to lodge overnight in Jerusalem.

Kehati

Ten miracles were performed for our fathers in the Temple - as follows: 1. No woman ever miscarried from the odor of the sacrificial flesh – according to Halakhah, a pregnant woman who smells cooked food should be fed from it, even when it is forbidden food - until she recovers: otherwise, the life of the mother and fetus might be endangered, and the saving of human life takes precedence over any mitzvah (Yoma 82a). The miracle in the Temple lay in that even though there was a persistent odor emanating from the roasted or cooked meat of the sacrifices, no mishap ever occurred to any woman as a result of these odors (Rambam, Sefer Hama'or).

2. The sacrificial flesh never became putrid - though the sacrifices of lesser holiness were eaten during two days and one night, the meat never emitted a stench even in the hot summer days. Some interpret: lo hisriah in the causative sense i.e., the offensive smell of the sacrifices did not pass on to the hands of the kohanim who handled it, as common flesh affects slaughterers (Hameiri).

3. No fly was ever seen in the slaughter-house - of the Temple courtyard where the sacrificial flesh was continually rinsed on marble tables.

4. No pollution ever befell the High Priest on Yom Kippur - through a nocturnal emission, which would disqualify him from officiating by day. This type of defilement, which issues from the body, is more offensive than other types, and would thus embarrass the High Priest. However, other types of impurity, e.g. accidental contact with a sheretz (unclean reptile), might occur; and, therefore, a deputy was appointed for him, as we learn (Yoma 12b): "It once happened that a disqualifying defect befell the High Priest, and Yosef ben Elam was appointed to take his place"

5. The rains never extinguished the fire of the woodpile on the altar - even though the outer altar stood in the open.

6. The wind never prevailed over the column of smoke - that rose from the altar-fire as straight as a "palm tree", and no gusts could dislodge it. Rambam explains: "During the course of the offering, the air stood still."

7. There was never found a disqualifying defect in the Omer - the sheaf of barley, offered up on the sixteenth of Nisan, after which it was permissible to eat of the new crop. Had it been found unfit, it could not have been replaced; since but the minimum necessary for the offering was cut on the previous night, or in the Two Loaves - offered up from the new wheat on Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks); in order to render the new wheat crop fit for meal-offerings on the altar. Since it was not permissible to bake these loaves on Shabbat or the Holy Days, it was necessary to bake them the day before; and if found defective, the ceremony could not be repeated, being restricted to a set time. The loaves were thus irreplaceable; or in the Shewbread - baked each Friday, and placed on the Table on Shabbat, where it lay until it was divided among the kohanim on the following Shabbat. Had it been rendered unfit, the Table would have remained without bread. Miraculously, no defect ever occurred in these offerings.

8. The people stood tightly pressed together - on the three Pilgrim Festivals, when the Temple courtyard was packed. Bartenura explains: "The word tzefufim (crowded) stems from the root tzaf (to float). So closely pressed were the throngs that the people's feet were lifted off the ground and stood on air," yet prostrated themselves at ease - when they had to bow down, they miraculously found as much as four cubits of space between one another, so that none would be embarrassed by overhearing the confession of his neighbor (Vayikra Rabba 10).

9. Neither snake nor scorpion ever injured anyone in Jerusalem - even though they were found there in ample numbers (Hameiri).

10. And no man ever said to his fellow: The space is too narrow for me to lodge overnight in Jerusalem - no one ever had to say: "I am in straitened circumstances here, unable to support myself, and shall go to live elsewhere, for God provided amply for all who lived in Jerusalem, so that none depended upon his neighbor, nor had to leave the city and wander" (Rashi). Other commentators find here a reference to the pilgrims who came to Jerusalem for the Festivals, all finding proper accommodation without cramping (Bartenura, Rabbenu Yonah).

It is likewise noted that the Mishnah does not say: The place was not narrow but that No one ever· said: The place is too narrow for me. Even though crowded, no one felt pressed, because of their ardent love of Jerusalem and the Temple and the prevailing feeling of affection and brotherly love among the people, (Hatam Sofer). Midrash Sh'muel queries the phrase Ten miracles were performed for "our fathers", seeing that most of the wonders mentioned in this Mishnah relate to ritual requirements. However, all these miracles were performed for the sake of our fathers, that they might behold and learn how each miracle displays the power of holiness, and God's benevolence towards those who do His will.

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