Avos chapter 5, mishnah 4. Before us is another mishnah from the series of "tens," and this one is especially striking. The mishnah says: "Asarah nissim na'asu la'avoseinu b'Mitzrayim va'asarah al hayam" - ten miracles through which the Holy One, Blessed is He, revealed His power to the Jewish people in Egypt, and another ten at the Sea of Reeds. The mishnah continues: "Eser makkos heivi HaKadosh Baruch Hu al haMitzrim b'Mitzrayim v'eser al hayam" - ten plagues with which the Holy One, Blessed is He, struck the Egyptians in the land of Egypt, and another ten at the splitting of the Sea of Reeds.
The mishnah further states: "Asarah nisyonos nissu avoseinu es haMakom Baruch Hu bamidbar" - ten times that the Jewish people tested the Holy One, Blessed is He, as it were, through their complaints and their failure to listen to His voice. As the verse says: "They tested Me these ten times and did not listen to My voice" - words that the Holy One, Blessed is He, said to Moshe Rabbeinu after the sin of the spies.
Ten miracles in Egypt:
When we think about the ten miracles in Egypt, the first instinct is to list blood, frogs, lice - that is, the ten plagues. But that is not what the mishnah means. The plagues themselves were indeed astounding: a colossal plague of locusts, and hail with fire burning inside it. Yet the greatest miracle of all was precisely that none of this harmed the Jews in Goshen: the Jews had water to drink while everyone else had blood, and so on down the list. That is the first miracle - the deliverance of the Jewish people, and this point is enormously important.
Ten miracles at the sea:
Some understand, following the midrash, that the ten miracles at the sea correspond to the ten plagues - that is, ten punishments that befell the Egyptians and did not befall us, so that Egypt and the sea parallel one another. The Bartenura, however, based on the midrashim, lists ten separate miracles that happened to the Jews as they crossed the sea:
The sea split.
It became something like a tunnel for them to pass through.
The ground beneath their feet became dry and firm, like solid earth.
In contrast to the Egyptians, for whom the water turned to mud that bogged them down.
The ground beneath their feet was not merely hard, but was like small tiles arranged in neat rows.
The water itself became hard as rock, in order to punish the Egyptians.
There was not just one path, but twelve separate paths in the sea for the twelve tribes.
The walls of water were transparent like a precious stone, so that they could see not only their own tribe passing through unharmed, but the other tribes as well.
Even though this was salt water, part of the Mediterranean Sea, drinking water came out of the walls and dripped downward, and they drank from it.
Whatever they did not drink hardened again into small pellets when it reached the ground.
The ten plagues in Egypt and the ten at the sea:
The ten plagues in Egypt are well known to us from the Pesach seder. But what are the ten plagues at the sea? The Bartenura derives them from the verses of the Song at the Sea, which list ten things that the Holy One, Blessed is He, did to the Egyptians:
"Sus v'rochvo ramah vayam" - the horse and its rider were hurled into the sea and were held together, so that they were judged together, and that is a miracle in its own right.
"Markevos Paroh v'cheilo yarah vayam" - the chariots were thrown into the sea, and they too stuck together.
"U'mivchar shalishav tub'u b'Yam Suf" - the senior officers and ministers drowned in the sea as well.
"Tehomos yechasyumu" - the deep waters covered them.
"Yardu bimtzolos" - they were brought down to the very depths of the sea.
"Tir'atz oyev" - the enemy was shattered.
"Taharos kamecha" - those who rose up against the Holy One, Blessed is He, were smashed.
"Yochleimo kakash" - those who remained were consumed, as it were, by the straw.
"Kisamo yam" - the waters covered them.
"Tzalalu ka'ofares" - they sank to the bottom of the sea like lead.
Ten times the Jewish people tested the Omnipresent:
Until now we have seen the two sets of ten miracles for the Jewish people - in Egypt and at the sea - and the two sets of ten plagues for the Egyptians - in Egypt and at the sea. Now we will list the ten tests with which the Jewish people tested the Holy One, Blessed is He, according to the Bartenura's count:
Before the splitting of the sea they said: "Were there no graves in Egypt?"
When they came up out of the sea they said at Marah: "What shall we drink?"
When they arrived at Refidim they demanded water to drink.
They were told not to go out to look for manna, and they went out to look.
They were told not to leave over manna until morning, and they left some over.
They said: "We have no meat, we would have been better off dying in Egypt, where we had meat" - recalling the pot of meat.
They complained about meat a second time, and these were the mixed multitude that was with them.
The sin of the golden calf.
They looked for things to complain about, like people seeking a grievance because they wanted to pick a fight.
The sin of the spies, when they said: "If only we had died in Egypt and had not gotten stuck here, for we have no ability to conquer the Land of Israel."
It is worth noting that there were further tests later on, and the Jewish people continued to cause trouble: the rebellion of Korach, the waters of strife where Moshe struck the rock, and others like them. But since the verse from which "these ten times" is derived was said after the sin of the spies, we count the first ten tests, up to and including the sin of the spies.
In summary: The central message that emerges from the mishnah is the personal providence of Hashem. Not only the harm He brought upon the Egyptians for our sake, to punish them for what they did to us, but above all the many miracles He performed with us and for us, which we must recognize and appreciate, seeing the tremendous providence in everything that happens - focusing on the good done for us rather than on the harm done to others.
And above all, to see the immense kindness and mercy of Hashem: even though we do not always live up to what is expected of us, and just as the generation of knowledge, the generation of the wilderness, did not live up to its mission and failed so many times - even so, Hashem loved them and cared for them. And with Hashem's help we will do the best we can, knowing that even if we fall, Hashem still loves us and cares for us.