We continue in the fifth chapter of Pirkei Avos, in the third Mishnah, with another group of ten: "Asarah nisyonos nisnaseh Avraham Avinu alav hashalom" - Avraham Avinu was tested with ten trials, ten examinations. It is worth noting that here he is called "Avraham Avinu," and not simply "Avraham" as in the previous Mishnah, and this is because he withstood these trials. Withstanding them means that he accepted whatever the Holy One, Blessed is He, sent him, responded with joy, without complaining, and did what was required of him with alacrity. Because of this he became the father of the nation. From our perspective, it is thanks to him and to what he implanted within us that we have the ability to overcome trials of this kind, and we are able to withstand them successfully, with God's help, as the Jewish people.
The Mishnah continues: "Ve'amad bechulam" - he withstood all ten trials, "lehodia kamah chibaso shel Avraham Avinu alav hashalom" - to teach us how beloved Avraham Avinu was, and what a special place the Holy One, Blessed is He, holds for him in His heart, as it were.
What are the ten trials? The approach of the Bartenura:
Agreeing to be thrown into Nimrod's fiery furnace. This is based on a Midrash that Rashi brings at the beginning of the parashah, even before "Lech Lecha," and it is not mentioned in the verses at all.
"Lech Lecha" - the command to leave everything that was near and dear to him and to go to the Promised Land.
The famine he was forced to contend with upon his arrival in Eretz Yisrael. The Holy One, Blessed is He, had promised him that things would go well for him when he came there, and in practice it was not that way at all, and he was even forced to leave. For this reason it was an enormous test of his trust and faith in the Holy One, Blessed is He.
When he arrived in Egypt, Sarah was seized by the local people and taken to Pharaoh, and he had to cope with that.
The war against the four kings who had captured his nephew Lot.
The Covenant Between the Parts, in which Avraham saw prophetically the servitude in Egypt and the seven kingdoms - the four exiles that the Jewish people would face.
The mitzvah of bris milah, which he had to perform at the age of ninety-nine, very old to do such a thing to himself.
The taking of his wife Sarah a second time, this time by Avimelech in Gerar.
The enormous challenge of sending away Hagar and his son Yishmael.
The Akeidah of Yitzchak.
The approach of Rashi:
Rashi has a slightly different count. He adds at the head of the list Avraham's need to hide underground for thirteen years so that he would not be caught by Nimrod, and on the other hand he removes from the list the second taking of Sarah by Avimelech.
The approach of the Rambam:
The Rambam bases himself on the verses and does not count the trial that comes from the Midrash, and therefore the first of his ten trials is "Lech Lecha." He restores to the list the taking of Sarah by Avimelech, and he divides the sending away of Hagar into two separate trials: the sending away of Hagar, who was the mother of his son - something that was exceedingly difficult for him; and the ninth trial, more severe still, the need to send away his son Yishmael, and to send him perhaps to his death.
The approach of Rabbeinu Yonah:
In all of these lists the tenth and final trial is the Akeidah of Yitzchak, but it is worth noting that according to Rabbeinu Yonah, whose description differs somewhat, the tenth trial is the purchase of the burial plot for Sarah Imeinu in the Cave of Machpelah. Avraham had been promised that he would have a portion in the land, and in the meantime he had never received any portion in it, and even for the ground he wished to purchase they squeezed him and forced him to pay exorbitant sums of money. This, in his view, was his tenth and final trial.
In summary: The message that emerges here is first and foremost the question each person must ask himself - when will our deeds reach the deeds of our forefathers. Each and every one of us has his own trials and his own tests in life; and whatever they may be, we must accept them and withstand them steadfastly in the way of Avraham Avinu - with joy and without complaining. And with God's help, we too will merit to overcome our trials.