We continue with Maseches Avos, chapter 5, mishnah 2, which is likewise built on the number ten:
"There were ten generations from Adam to Noach, to make known how great is His patience, for all those generations continued to provoke Him until He brought upon them the waters of the flood. There were ten generations from Noach to Avraham, to make known how great is His patience, for all those generations continued to provoke Him until Avraham came and received the reward of them all".
The mishnah wants to teach us just how patient the Holy One is: all those generations went on provoking Him, and even so He waited for them - until He brought upon them the waters of the flood. And afterward another ten generations, until Avraham Avinu came and received the reward of them all.
The lists of generations:
The first list, from Adam to Noach, includes Noach himself:
Adam.
Sheis.
Enosh.
Keinan.
Mahalalel.
Yered.
Chanoch.
Mesushelach.
Lemech.
Noach.
In the second list Noach is not counted a second time; rather, it begins with his son Shem:
Shem.
Arpachshad.
Shelach.
Ever.
Peleg.
Re'u.
Serug.
Nachor.
Terach.
Avraham.
What is the mishnah teaching us that we did not already know?
At first glance, the very fact that the Holy One is patient and holds back His anger before bringing punishment we already learned from the verses. But the mishnah comes to teach us the measure of it - just how patient He is. We are speaking of ten generations, and long generations at that: from the birth of Adam until the flood, one thousand six hundred and fifty six years passed, and throughout that entire period the Holy One waited patiently.
It is worth noting that the main deterioration begins already in the third generation, the generation of Enosh, the grandson of Adam, about whom it is said that in his days idolatry was invented, and from then on the situation declined severely. Even in the generations before him we find sin: Adam ate from the tree, and Kayin killed his brother Hevel. Ten consecutive generations grew progressively worse - and although there were righteous individuals among them, such as Chanoch and others like him, as a whole they were wicked generations, and even so the Holy One did not punish them until the ten generations were complete. When matters reached the limit, He brought upon them the waters of the flood and began anew. And then too the same thing repeated itself: ten generations that grew progressively worse, and although there were righteous individuals among them, as a whole they were wicked - until Avraham Avinu came in the tenth generation and set things right.
"Erech apayim" - why is it expressed in the plural?
When it comes to anger, the Torah generally uses the expression "charon af" - af in the singular. Why here "apayim" in the plural? Because there are two aspects, two situations in which the Holy One is patient: He is forbearing and slow to anger before bringing punishment, and He is forbearing and slow to anger in order to bring reward as well. The first ten generations ended, in the end, in punishment - the generation of the Flood; whereas during the ten generations that followed He was patient and waited in order to grant the reward of them all to Avraham Avinu. Two different modes of patience, and therefore not "af" but "apayim".
The difference between the two groups:
The most important point for understanding the difference is the figure of Noach. Noach himself was "a righteous man, perfect", a complete tzaddik, and nevertheless he did not receive the reward of the generations that preceded him; on the contrary, in his days the Flood came. Avraham Avinu, by contrast, received the reward of them all. The difference is that Noach indeed did nothing bad, but as a tzaddik he did not trouble himself to do anything good:
Noach: He did not take responsibility for the world. He did not seek to be part of something greater, he did not make the effort to bring the world back in repentance and save it from the Flood, but sought only to save himself, as he was commanded. Therefore he does not receive the reward of everyone else, even though he was a complete tzaddik.
Avraham: He took responsibility for the entire world. He called out in the name of Hashem, awakened people to His existence, and brought the world back to Him as far as it was in his power. And because he took this responsibility upon himself, it is as though the purpose of the entire world is fulfilled through him, and therefore he receives the reward of them all.
As we said in the previous Mishnah, the world is a single system whose parts are all connected to one another, and it falls to a person to take responsibility not only for his own personal perfection but for the perfection of the world. For this reason the Holy One waited, as it were, for someone who would rise up and say "Hineni" - I take responsibility for the world. This is what Avraham Avinu did, unlike Noach.
The message that emerges from the Mishnah is twofold:
The Holy One is astonishingly patient, and is slow to anger for generation after generation.
His waiting is not only before punishment, but also in order to grant reward: He waits generations to see who will be available to receive the reward for taking responsibility for the world.
And as we mentioned in the previous Mishnah regarding Rosh Hashanah and the purpose of creation - the moment in which a person says: I accept upon myself the vision of the Holy One, and I want to be part of it. This is what Avraham Avinu did, and this is what is incumbent upon us.
The Holy One, blessed be He, is waiting for us to turn the corner and say "Hineni" - I take responsibility for the Jewish people and for the entire world, and I will do what I can, beginning with myself, my family and my community, and extending to the Jewish people and all of humanity, to bring them toward their perfection. All of us are called upon to do this, and the Holy One, blessed be He, waits patiently to grant us the reward for the courage, for the effort, and for the commitment to do what is within our power to bring the world to its perfection.