Mishnah
Mishnah

Musar for Pirkei Avot 5:5

עֲשָׂרָה נִסִּים נַעֲשׂוּ לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְּבֵית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ. לֹא הִפִּילָה אִשָּׁה מֵרֵיחַ בְּשַׂר הַקֹּדֶשׁ, וְלֹא הִסְרִיחַ בְּשַׂר הַקֹּדֶשׁ מֵעוֹלָם, וְלֹא נִרְאָה זְבוּב בְּבֵית הַמִּטְבָּחַיִם, 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 fathers in the Temple: No woman ever miscarried because of the smell of the sacrifices; the flesh of the offerings never putrefied; a fly was never seen in the slaughterhouse; the high-priest never had a seminal emission on Yom Kippur. [Because it is a tumah that issues from his body, it is more repugnant than other types]; a rain never put out the fire on the wood pile, [even though the altar was exposed], the wind never stirred the smoke column from its place [that it not rise in a column]; a psul [a disqualifying defect] was never found in the Omer [offering], the two loaves, or the show-bread. [For if a psul were found before the (prescribed time of) their mitzvah, it was not possible to offer others in their stead. For the omer was harvested at night, and they did not harvest much; and the two loaves were baked on the eve of yom tov, and their baking does not override yom tov. And, similarly, the show-bread was baked on the eve of Sabbath]; they stood in constriction (tzfufuim) [as in "tzaf (floating) on the face of the waters." There were so many of them that they were pressed against each other to the point that their feet left the ground and they "floated" in the air] and they bowed in expansion. [When they bowed a miracle was performed for them and they bowed in (ample) room, each one four ells removed from his neighbor, so that one not hear the other when he confessed his sins]; and a snake or a scorpion never harmed anyone in Jerusalem, and no one ever said to his neighbor "Jerusalem is 'too tight' for me to live in." [because the place afforded them a livelihood, and there was no need for anyone to leave and say "Things are 'too tight' for me and I cannot live in Jerusalem." Some editions have "to sleep over" (instead of "to live in"), the reference being to the festival pilgrims, none of them finding it too difficult to sleep over in Jerusalem because of lack of space (see Yoma 21b)].

Shenei Luchot HaBerit

A total rehabilitation of mankind (Israel) occurred at the time of the giving of the Torah, prior to the second relapse when Israel worshiped the golden calf. The next rehabilitation that took place was the construction of the Tabernacle, a microscope of the perfect universe. The sacrifices, עבודה, are one of the pillars which ensure the continued existence of the universe. We see therefore how the word עשן, which we described as representing the three kinds of perfections Adam had possessed prior to his sin, became the symbol of rehabilitation after G–d legislated that man can come close to Him by presenting sacrifices whose smoke (עשן) rises up from the altar in the Tabernacle (Sanctuary). Evil influences in the world were unable to overcome or infect this smoke which comprised three sanctities, including the sanctity of the Tabernacle which was called מקדש. Whereas Adam enjoyed being in the choicest place of the world, גן עדן, Aaron now had both a Sanctuary and a Holy of Holies symbolizing the choicest place on earth.
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Shenei Luchot HaBerit

Such considerations also enable us to explain the Mishnah in Avot 5,8, that the Jewish people experienced ten miracles while the Temple was standing. The list includes such things as that no woman suffered a miscarriage due to the odour of the flesh of the sacrifices which was burned up on the altar, and that the meat itself never turned putrid. No fly was ever seen in the slaughterhouse of the Temple; no unclean emission ever befell the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. The rain never extinguished the fire on the wood pile of the altar; the wind never prevailed over the column of smoke that rose from the altar; no disqualifying defect was ever found in the Omer, the two Shevuot loaves, nor in the show-breads. The people stood closely pressed together and yet found ample space to prostrate themselves; no snake or scorpion ever caused injury in Jerusalem, and no man ever said to his fellow: "There is too little room for me to lodge overnight in Jerusalem."
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