(ה) עֲשָׂרָה נִסִּים נַעֲשׂו לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְּבֵית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ. לֹא הִפִּילָה אִשָּׁה מֵרֵיחַ בְּשַׂר הַקֹּדֶשׁ, וְלֹא הִסְרִיחַ בְּשַׂר הַקֹּדֶשׁ מֵעוֹלָם, וְלֹא נִרְאָה זְבוּב בְּבֵית הַמִּטְבְּחַיִם, וְלֹא אֵרַע קֶרִי לְכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל בְּיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים, וְלֹא כִבּוּ גְשָׁמִים אֵשׁ שֶׁל עֲצֵי הַמַּעֲרָכָה, וְלֹא נָצְחָה הָרוּחַ אֶת עַמּוּד הֶעָשָׁן, וְלֹא נִמְצָא פְסוּל בָּעֹמֶר וּבִשְׁתֵּי הַלֶּחֶם וּבְלֶחֶם הַפָּנִים, עוֹמְדִים צְפוּפִים וּמִשְׁתַּחֲוִים רְוָחִים, וְלֹא הִזִּיק נָחָשׁ וְעַקְרָב בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם מֵעוֹלָם, וְלֹא אָמַר אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ צַר לִי הַמָּקוֹם שֶׁאָלִין בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם
Ten miracles were performed for our ancestors in the Temple. No woman ever miscarried because of the smell of the meat of the sacrifices, the meat from the sacrifices never became putrid, a fly was never seen in the place where the meat was butchered, the High Priest never saw seminal emission on Yom Kippur, the rain never extinguished the fire of the wood on the Altar, the wind never dispersed the column of smoke, there was never a disqualification in the Omer, the Two Loaves, or the Lechem Hapanim; when the people stood they were crowded, yet when they bowed there was ample space; a snake or scorpion never caused harm in Jerusalem, and no one ever said to his friend, “There is no room for me to sleep in Jerusalem.”
The mishnah lists ten miracles done for our forefathers in the holy temple. The first mentioned is that no woman ever miscarried because of the aroma of the sacrificial meat. The traditional commentators understand this as meaning that, although one might have expected that the unsatisfied craving for this meat would cause some women to miscarry, this never occurred as regards to the aroma coming from the Beit HaMikdash. I would like to offer a different explanation. I believe that this miracle is tied to the gemara (Yebamoth 20a) that says that one should make oneself holy through that which is permitted.
This concept is generally understood as meaning that it is not enough to avoid that which the Torah forbids, but to also selectively restrict oneself even from some of things that are technically permitted, but spiritually harmful. For example, while the Torah permits consumption of hard liquor, this concept tells us that we should avoid drinking to excess and frequenting the gathering places of those who do drink to excess.
I would like to offer my own understanding of this concept, which is that this “sanctifying oneself through that which is permitted” (kadesh atzmecha b’mutar lach) is akin to making oneself into a mikdash me’at, a small sanctuary. This is akin to having reached a spiritual level where one’s own flesh becomes holy, vc vc, in the words of our mishnah. When one’s basar is kodesh, when one’s flesh is holy, then the yetser hara will not be able to seize control over him.
An example of this is the holy Rav Acha. The gemara (Ketubot 17a) tells us that, in celebrating a wedding, he was known to hoist the bride upon his shoulders and dance with her, in fulfillment of the mitzvah to bring gladness to the bride. The Rabbis asked him whether this was something that they could do as well. He replied in the negative: “If, for you, the bride is like a beam, then it is permitted. If not, then you are not permitted.
In other words, the holy Rav Acha, one of the greatest talmudic scholars, sanctified his body to the highest degree. So much so, that he was completely unaffected by having a young bride rest upon his shoulders.
Another gemara (Berachot 20a) speaks of Rav Gidel. He would position himself at the entrance to the mikveh and instruct the ladies how to immerse themselves. His students asked him, “But isn’t our Rav concerned as to the yetser hara?” He answered, “To me, they are like white geese.” In other words, viewing them had no effect on him.
I recall regarding my own father, my master, that I never saw him perspire -- even in the hottest weather. This must be because his entire body was holy and spiritual. When someone’s body is spiritual, it is unaffected by physical events. I would like to extend my reading of this mishnah even further. As I see it, the miracle of no woman miscarrying teaches us that when a person sanctifies himself to derive no benefit at all from this world, he could potentially attain the level where his flesh would not decay after his dies. The yetser hara will carry no power over him. He becomes something like a Beit HaMikdash.
I see a hint to the above in the verse (Shemot 25:8) :fc hfv vcu hS vg, They shall make for me a Mikdash and I will dwell amongst them. Some commentators wish to read this as saying that Hashem (the Shechina) will potentially dwell within the individual Jew. In other words, the Jew can potentially become the Mikdash. I would extend this to mean that all the miracles done in the Mikdash were done within the individual Jew as well.
The gemara tells us that when Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon was dying, he ordered his wife that after his death, his body not be buried. He gave her certain reasons for this request. According to the gemara, his body remained in the attic of their house for many years. His wife would regularly ascend to the attic and examine his hair. She reported that whenever a single hair would fall from his head, blood would appear there, seemingly indicative of his body still being “fresh.”
The fact that Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon had died was not well-known. Although he had already passed, people continued coming to his home to resolve their disputes. The gemara says that they would stand at the entranceway to his house and state their claims. A voice would come from the heavens and announce, “Litigant Shimon, you are obligated to pay. Litigant Reuven, you are innocent.”
(Note: Within normative halacha, cases are not decided by voices from the heaven, but through trained and living judges within Rabbinical courts. In fact, it would be unacceptable to decide law based on heavenly voices. Therefore, some of the commentators suggest that Rabbi Elazar was not actually deciding cases from beyond the grave, but that the heavenly voice would inspire the two litigants to reach an honorable compromise. It would help them recognize what type of settlement would be fair.)
Eventually, the fact that Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon had died became
widely known. He was then brought for burial.
The gemara says that, before he died, Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon requested that physical suffering be brought upon him, as an act of atonement. Through this physical affliction, I believe, his flesh became holy. It therefore did not decay upon his death, nor did it attract worms, even during the long period of time following the departure of his soul.
Ten things were created at twilight on the eve of the Sabbath: The mouth of the earth, the mouth
of the well, the mouth of the donkey, the rainbow,
and the manna, and the staff, and the shamir, the writing, and the letters, and the Tablets. Some say also the demons, and Moshe’s burial place, and the ram of Avraham Avinu. Some say also the first tongs, from which all other tongs were made.
The mishnah lists ten things created during the twilight period of Shabbat eve. This period is known as Bein Hashemashot. The Shulkhan Arukh (OH 261:1) refers to it as a time of “doubtful” sunset. In other words, it is unclear as to whether its status is as day or night, the difference being whether Shabbat (and its attendant prohibitions) has begun. Because of this uncertainty, we are not permitted to do “work” during the Shabbat Bein Hashemashot period.
My son asked me the following: The Torah tells us that we are not to do melacha on Shabbat because Hashem Himself refrained from melacha on that day. And the B’nei Yisrael shall guard the Shabbat . . . for in six days did He create the heavens and earth, and He rested on the seventh. In other words, we are to emulate Hashem in this. Just as He rested from His work on the seventh day, so must we.
My son’s question was: This mishnah in Avoth says that Hashem performed melacha Erev Shabbat, during Bein HaShemashot. Given that this was the case, it should follow that we, too, would be permitted to perform melacha during this time period.
To answer this question, we will first examine why, in my opinion, the Kaddosh Baruch Hu created these things during the Bein HaShemashot period, rather than during the six days preceding it.
It seems to me that these ten things have one very significant thing in common, namely that, were it not for the sin of Adam HaRishon, they would never have been created. There would have been no need for them, for the yetzer hara appeared within man only after the Sin. This was when it was decreed that all living things would no longer live forever. Given this new reality, the creation of these ten things then became necessary.
I will now explain this in detail.
t hp, the mouth of the earth, which swallowed Korach, is the first miracle listed in our mishnah. It was needed only because of the yetser hara that encourages mahloket.
tc hp, the mouth of Miriam’s well, was opened following the incident of Bnei Yisrael’s complaining. This, too, occurred due to the yetser hara’s enticement. t hp, the mouth of Bilaam’s donkey, comes next. It was Bilaam’s yetser hara that led up to this.
vc, the rainbow that appeared in the sky after the flood is the fourth bein hashemashot miracle. It was shown to Noah after the entire generation was destroyed by the flood waters. This, too, was instigated by the yetser hara.
u, the manna descended to the earth only after Bnei Yisrael complained, saying, If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in Mitzrai’im, . . . when we ate bread to our fill! For you have brought us out into this desert, to starve this entire congregation to death.
su, the staff, is next. It was used by Moshe Rabbeinu to counter Pharaoh’s not wanting to send Yisrael from Mitzrai’im. Of course, it was Pharaoh’s yetser hara that led him to resist doing Hashem’s will.
huv, the shamir. The early commentators describe this as a worm that could cut any other substance, with its glance. It was used by Moshe to engrave the names of the twelve tribes upon the stones of the Kohen Gadol’s breast plate, the ephod. It was also used to cut the stone for Shlomo Hamelech’s temple, as he could not use iron tools for this.
The word, “shamir” appears as well in Yirmiyahu 17:1, where the verse says that, The sin of the kingdom of Yehudah is written with an iron pen and
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