Comentario sobre Pirkei Avot 5:4

TEN MIRACLES WERE DONE FOR OUR ANCESTORS IN EGYPT. Rav: they were spared during the ten plagues. Rambam: and this is miraculous, without a doubt. The Torah writes of each plague that it was brought only upon the Egyptians with the exception of the plague of lice in which this is not made explicit; it is understood, however, that it did not touch the Jews. These plagues were present in their areas but did not affect them, as the Sages explain.

Ten miracles were performed for our ancestors in Egypt: As our forefathers were not hurt by all of the ten plagues that the Holy One, blessed be He, brought on the Egyptians in Egypt. And it is explicit in all of them except the plague of lice, about which it is written (Exodus 8:14), "and the lice were upon men" - and the Torah did not distinguish between Egypt and Israel. But it is a tradition in the hand of the sages that also with this [one] were they not struck .

But the ten miracles that were performed for our ancestors in Egypt are their salvation from the ten plagues and that each of the ten plagues were specifically on the Egyptians and not on Israel. And these are miracles without a doubt. And the language of the Torah in each and every plague is that the Holy One, blessed be He, brought it [only] on the Egyptians. Except for the plague of lice - as [there] it did not make this clear, but it is known that He did not punish Israel. Rather [the lice] were found with [the Israelites as well], but they did not distress them. And so did the sages elucidate. But with the other plagues, the matter was clarified [in the text]. It stated about the blood (Exodus 7:21), "and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river" - a proof that that the damage reached them alone. And it stated with the frogs (Exodus 7:28), "and they will come into your house and into your bedrooms, etc." And it stated with the mixture of animals (Exodus 8:18), "And I will distinguish on that day the Land of Goshen, etc." And it stated about the pestilence (Exodus 9:6), "but of the livestock of the Israelites not one died." And it sated about the boils (Exodus 9:11), "as the boils were upon the magicians and and upon all of Egypt." And it stated with the hail (Exodus 9:26), "Only in the Land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, there was no hail." And it stated with the locusts (Exodus 10:14), "And locusts went up upon all the Land of Egypt." And it stated with darkness (Exodus 10:23), "and for all the children of Israel, there was light in their dwellings." But the ten miracles that were at the Sea is a received tradition. The first is the splitting of the water like the simple understanding of the verse, "and the water split" (Exodus 14:21). The second is that after the sea split, it became like a tent until it turned into a type of roof - and not of beams and not slanted - and the path was as if there was a hole in the water and the water was on the right and on the left and on top. It is [like] the statement of Habakuk 3:14, "You have pierced with his rods, the head of his rulers." The third is that its ground became hard and solid, as it states (Exodus 14:29), "walked on dry land" - and there did not remain any clay and mud like in other rivers. The fourth is that the paths of the Egyptians were in quicksand, and that is its stating (Habakuk 3:14), "the clay of great waters." The fifth is that it split into twelve paths like the number of tribes like a curved bow, as per this drawing. And that is its stating (Psalms 136:13), "To tear the Reed Sea into pieces." The sixth is that the water congealed and became as hard as boulders. And about this, it stated (Psalms 74:13), "you broke the head of the 'sea monsters' upon the waters" - meaning to say that the waters hardened to the point that they went back in such a way that heads would break on them. And the seventh is that it did not congeal like the solidifying of other waters that congeal - meaning to say [into] one piece, but rather [into] many pieces, as if they were [building] stones and they were arranged some on top of others. And that is its stating (Psalms 74:13), "You crumbled the sea with Your power." The eighth is that it congealed like glass or onyx - meaning to say, it was clear to the point that some of [the tribes] would see each other in their crossing it. And this is its stating (Psalms 18:12), "the darkness of the waters, the clouds of the sky," which is to say that the gathering of waters was 'like the essence of the sky in purity' - which is clear. The ninth - that sweet water would flow from it and they would drink it. The tenth is that it would congeal at the time that it flowed, after they took what they drank from it - to the point that it would not fall to the ground. And that is its stating (Exodus 15:8), "they stood up like a flowing stack" - meaning to say the thing that was flowing congealed in the heart of the sea. And in the tradition we found that more plagues came upon the Egyptians at the Sea than the plagues that came upon them in Egypt. And the hint to this is in its stating (I Samuel 4:8), "He is the same God who struck the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness" - meaning to say in the Wilderness of the Reed Sea. But the ten trials that our ancestors tested the Omnipresent are all words of Scripture. The first is at the Sea in their saying "Are there no graves in Egypt" (Exodus 14:11). And the second is at Marah - that is its stating (Exodus 15:24), "And they complained about Moshe, saying, 'What will we drink?'" And the third is in the Wilderness of Sin when they asked for the manna. And that is its stating (Exodus 16:3), "And who will give that our death be at the hand of God, etc." And the fourth is their leaving manna over until the morning. And that is its stating (Exodus 16:20), "and men left over from it until the morning." And the fifth is their rebellion in seeking manna on the Shabbat day, as it is stated (Exodus 16:27), "And it was on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather." And the sixth is their rebellion at Refidim, also over water. And the seventh is at Chorev with the story of the [golden] calf. And the eighth is at Taverah when they become doubtful at that place with the speaking of the grumblers. And that is its saying (Numbers 11:1), "And the people were like grumblers." And the ninth is at Kivrot HaTaavah (the graves of desire), when they asked for meat - its saying (Numbers 11:4), "And the mixed multitude that was within them desired a desire." And the tenth is in the Wilderness of Paran with the matter of the spies. And there it stated (Numbers 14:22), "and they have tried Me these ten times and they did not listen to My voice."

And these are miracles without a doubt. And see Tosafot Yom Tov.

Ten miracles were performed for our ancestors in Egypt: as they were spared from the ten plagues. And they were all against the Egyptians and not against Israel.

Ten miracles were wrought for our ancestors in Egypt, and ten at the sea.
Ten plagues did the Holy one, blessed be He, bring upon the Egyptians in Egypt and ten at the sea.
[With] ten trials did our ancestors try God, blessed be He, as it is said, “and they have tried Me these ten times and they have not listened to my voice” (Numbers 14:22).
The ten miracles that were wrought for our ancestors in Egypt were their being spared from the ten plagues that were afflicted upon the Egyptians.
The ten miracles that were performed at the sea are not mentioned in the Torah but are contained in a midrash and are listed as follows by the Rambam: 1) the sea was split; 2) the water formed a tent over their heads; 3) the land became firm (not muddy); 4) when the Egyptians tried to cross the land in the sea returned to being muddy; 5) the sea was split into 12 strips so each tribe could travel separately; 6) the water froze and became hard as a rock; 7) the water which became as a rock was actually many rocks and was beautifully arranged; 8) the water remained clear so that the tribes could see each other; 9) water that was fit for drinking leaked from the sides; 10) after they finished drinking the water, the water that was left immediately again froze.
The ten plagues that were wrought upon the Egyptians in Egypt are well known and listed in the Torah.
The ten plagues at the sea are, according to some commentators, the ten different verbs used to describe the death of the Egyptians in chapter 15 of Exodus, “he has thrown” (15:2); “he has cast” (15:4); “deeps cover them” (15:5); “they went down into the depths” (15:5); “dashes in pieces the enemy” (15:6); “You overthrow them that rise up against You” (15:7); “it consumes them like straw” (15:7); “the waters were piled up, the floods stood upright as a heap” (15:8); “they sank as lead” (15:10).
The ten times that the children of Israel tried God are as follows: 1) at the sea (Ex. 14:11); 2) at Marah (ibid. 15:24); 3) in the wilderness of Sin (ibid. 16:3); 4) with the Manna (ibid. 16:20); 5) again with the Manna (ibid. 16:27); 6) at Rephidim (ibid. 17:2); 7) with the golden calf (ibid. 32:1); 8) at Tavera (Numbers 11:1); 9) at Kivroth-taaverah (ibid. 11:4); 10) in the wilderness of Paraan, at the incident of the spies (ibid. 13:3).

AND TEN BY THE SEA. Rav writes that the fifth miracle was that the solidified water was formed into small pieces like bricks [*so also Rambam]. What purpose was there in having the water formed like bricks? [*I say that it was simply for beauty, for the glory of Israel, just like the second miracle of the sea becoming like a tent. Even without a tent it would sufficed for the sea simply to split for them. And as for protecting them from the sun and rain, the Clouds of Glory certainly did not depart from them even as they were walking through the sea. Rather, both of these miracles occurred solely for the honor of Israel.]

and ten [miracles were performed] at the [Reed] Sea: The first is the splitting of the Reed Sea, as it is stated (Exodus 14:21), "and He opened the waters." The second is that the water formed a bow and like a type of dome and it came out that the water was on top of them. And about this is it stated (Habakuk 3:14), "You have pierced with his rods, the head of his rulers." The third is that the springs of the great foundations opened and [absorbed all the moisture so that] no mud or sludge remained on its ground, as [is not the case] when other springs dry up. Rather it was like marble stone on its bottom and [so] Israel crossed the sea as one who walks in his house. The fourth is that the places that the Egyptians tread upon in the sea were like a type of clay, and this is what the verse states (Habakuk 3:15), "Your horses tread the sea, the clay of the mighty waters." It states "Your horses," as also the horses of the Egyptians were given into the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He. And the fifth is that the waters hardened more than necessary and they became hard as boulders and slabs and hurt the Egyptians that were chasing Israel. And about this King David, peace be upon him, stated (Psalms 74:13), "You smashed the heads of the sea monsters upon the waters" - these sea monsters were the Egyptians. The sixth was that [the waters] were torn into twelve parts - one path for each tribe that would pass over there. And this is what is stated (Psalms 136:13), "to tear the Reed Sea into many parts." The seventh is that the partitions between one tribe and another were clear like white glass so that the tribes could see one another. The eighth is that the water did not congeal into one piece, but rather it was made into [many] small pieces - like one block on top of another and one brick on top the other, as it is written (Psalms 74:13), "You crumbled the sea with Your power." The ninth is that the sweet (fresh) water did not harden like the rest of the waters of the sea but [rather] would flow; and they would drink from all of the streams going towards the sea. The tenth is that after their drinking, [the fresh water] would immediately harden - as the flowing water would not descend to the floor. Rather, Israel would drink from it, and the rest would go out and fall to the ground like a piece of snow. And so too each and every time that they needed to drink.

And this was for beauty and for the glory of Israel. And without a tent it would have also sufficed for them, by it splitting alone; as there is no doubt that the clouds of glory did not move from them. And so [too] was the fifth miracle done for beauty.

And ten [miracles were performed] at the [Reed] Sea: One - "and the water split" (Exodus 14:21); the second - that the sea turned into a type of of tent and Israel went into it, as it is written (Habakuk 3:14), "You have pierced with his rods, the head of his rulers"; the third - that the sea floor became dry without clay and mud, as it is written (Exodus 14:29), "And the children of Israel walked on dry land"; the fourth - that the sea floor, that the Egyptians that chased after Israel trod upon, dampened and became clay and mud, as it is written (Habakuk 3:14), "the clay of great waters"; the fifth - that the water that congealed on the sea floor did not become one piece, but rather [many] small pieces, similar to bricks and building stones arranged one next to the other, as it is written (Psalms 74:13), "You crumbled the sea with Your power," [meaning] that it turned into a type of [surface made up of] crumbs; the sixth - that the water that congealed hardened and became as hard as boulders, as it is written (Psalms 74:13), "you broke the head of the 'sea monsters' upon the waters," and the Egyptians were called sea monsters; the seventh - that the sea was split into twelve pieces so that each and every tribe could cross by itself in [its own] path, and that is [the meaning] of that which is written (Psalms 136:13), "To tear the Reed Sea into pieces"; the eighth - that the waters congealed [with the appearance of] sapphire and onyx and glass, so that the tribes would see each other, since the pillar of fire was giving them light, and this is what is stated (Psalms 18:12), "the darkness of the waters, the clouds of the sky," which is to say that the gathering of waters was like clouds of the sky, 'like the essence of the sky in purity'; the ninth - that sweet water would come out from it, such that they would drink it, and this is what is stated (Exodus 15:8), "flowing"; the tenth - that after they drank what they wanted from it, the remainder would congeal and turn into piles, as it is written (Exodus 15:8), "the waters piled up, they stood up like a flowing stack."

TEN PLAGUES. This is the text in other versions, and is the text that Rav had. [*He writes that they correspond to דצ"ך עד"ש באח"ב, which is the mnemonic that R. Yehudah gives in the Passover Haggadah. This year, in the sermon that I gave in the synagogue over Shabbat HaGadol here in Krakow in the year 1644¹⁹⁷There is a clever use of Hebrew here. The Tosafot Yom Tov writes פה בקראק"א לפ"ק, “here, in Krakow, not counting thousands.” The meaning of this is that “in Krakow” is both where he delivered the sermon and, if one takes the sum of its alphanumeric values, the year in which he delivered it. So the phrase reads “here, in Krakow = 404, not counting thousands (i.e., in the year 5404).” Tosafot Yom Tov had actually just recently been appointed chief rabbi and judge over Krakow. I brought up that the acronym doesn’t seem to have any meaning. In answer I said that the words should be vocalized and read as ditzach `adush be’ichav, and the meaning is as follows: it is as if G-d says, “your joy [ditzach] will be when I trample [’adush with initial ’alef, in the mnemonic `adush with initial `ayin] with the dread [be’ivchat, in the mnemonic be’ichav] of the sword.” For `ayin and ’alef are frequently interchanged in Hebrew, and two letters can switch places in a single word,¹⁹⁸This is called metathesis. as in the words simla and keves, which are often written salma and kesev.¹⁹⁹Be’ichav can therefore be derived from be’ivchat of Ezekiel. `adush is based on the verse in Habakkuk 3:12, “you trampled [Heb. tadush] the nations with wrath”. Be’ichav is based on the verse in Ezekiel 21:20, “dread of the sword” [Heb. ’ivchat cherev], where Rashi explains that the tav is only there because the words is in the construct state and is not part of the root.]

Ten plagues did the Holy One, blessed be He, bring on the Egyptians in Egypt: [These are the ten known by the acronym,] Detsach, Adash, Beachav.

the Holy One, blessed be He: Since the plagues came by law and justice upon the Egyptians, therefore the teacher of the mishnah designated them to the Holy One, blessed be He, who is the true Judge. But with the miracles that were performed for our forefathers, he did not designate them to Him, because the exact law would not have granted the miracle; as 'these are idol worshipers, etc.' - Midrash Shmuel.

Ten plagues did the Holy One, blessed be He, bring upon the Egyptians in Egypt: Detsakh (the Hebrew initials of the first three plagues) Adash (the Hebrew initials of the second three plagues), Beachav (the Hebrew initials of the last four plagues).

GOD BROUGHT… UPON. The tanna makes G-d, who is the true judge, the explicit subject and actor here because the Egyptians fully deserved the plagues, which were brought upon them justly. But in describing the miracles done for our ancestors, the tanna does not make G-d the subject and actor, and He is omitted by the use of the passive voice in the phrase “were done for our ancestors.” This is because in the lens of strict judgment they would not have been found worthy of these miracles, as they were also idolaters, as Rashi writes in his commentary on parashat Beshalach (Exodus 14:19): “these are idolaters and these are idolaters”—Midrash Shmuel.

and ten at the sea: The first, "and it lit the night" (Exodus 14:20) - and like the translation of Onkelos, "and it was (darkness) [cloud and fog] for the Egyptians and light for Israel all night." And the second and the third are "And the Lord looked down upon the Egyptian camp in a pillar of fire and cloud" (Exodus 14:24) - the cloud would come down and make it like sludge and the pillar of fire would boil it, [such that the] hoofs of their horses would be severed. The fourth is "He removed the wheels of their chariots" (Exodus 14:25) - that He removed the wheels from the wagons and the Egyptians fell and were crushed. The fifth is "and they drove with heaviness" (Exodus 14:25) - after they fell and were crushed, they could not stand. And [so,] they stayed in the place that they fell. And the sixth is that they wanted to flee and they could not, as it is stated (Exodus 14:25), "And Egypt said, 'Let us flee from Israel.'" And [this is] not like we found with Sisera, as it stated (Judges 4:15), "and Sisera descended from his chariot and fled on foot." But these did not descend and they did not have the possibility of fleeing. And the seventh is "And the Lord shook the Egyptians into the sea" (Exodus 14:27) - likes its [classic Aramaic] translation, "and He confounded," which is an expression of breaking. As He shook them like a man shakes a pot, [such] that what is above [goes] below and what is below [goes] above. And the eighth is that the earth at the bottom of the sea swallowed them, as it is stated (Exodus 15:12), "You stretched out Your right hand, the earth swallowed them." The ninth is that they descended heavily into the depths of the sea like lead, as it stated (Exodus 15:10), "They sank like lead in the mighty waters." The tenth is that the sea spit them out, as it stated (Exodus 14:30), "And Israel saw Egypt dead on the shore of the sea."

the [Reed] Sea: That which the teacher had the miracles (plagues) at the sea precede [the ones in Egypt] is because the essence of the plagues was in order that His name would be recounted in the world. And the main impartation of [God's involvement] was only recognizable when God [visibly] distinguished between Egypt and Israel. Therefore since they were the main ones in terms of the quality of publicity; for that reason, he placed them first, even though they were not first in time - Midrash Shmuel.

and ten [miracles were performed] at the [Reed] Sea: These correspond to the ten downfalls in the Song "And God Saved" (Exodus 14:30 - 15:19): "He threw into the sea"; "He cast into the sea"; "they drowned in the Reed Sea"; "The depths covered them"; "they descended into the depths"; "You crushed the enemy"; "You destroyed your enemy"; "it consumed them like straw"; " they sank like lead" - behold ten falls. And "the earth swallowed them" is not in the calculation of the downfalls, as this is to their benefit - that they merited a burial.

AND TEN AT THE SEA. The tanna puts the miracles at the sea before the miracles in Egypt.²⁰⁰It seems that Tosafot Yom Tov is suggesting that the mishna should have said “G-d did ten miracles for our ancestors and brought ten plagues upon the Egyptians in Egypt, and did ten miracles for our ancestors and brought ten plagues upon the Egyptians by the sea,” as the mishna should put what came first chronologically first in the text. It instead puts together the sets of miracles done for the Jews, which makes the ten miracles by the sea precede the ten plagues brought upon the Egyptians in Egypt. This is problematic, because both the question and the answer come from Midrash Shmuel, who is clearly asking a different question: since the miracles (at least in Egypt) were precisely in being saved from the plagues, the mishna should have first mentioned the plagues and then the miracle of being saved from those plagues. He answers that since the miracles are what distinguished between the Jews and the Egyptians they come first in the mishna.
Perhaps Tosafot Yom Tov rejected the possibility of the plagues coming first in the mishna out of hand for a different reason: the mishna primarily wishes to speak in praise of G-d, as the mishnayot before and after it do, for which reason the miracles would certainly come first (in fact, Midrash Shmuel's version of the mishna did not even mention the plagues; he cites “other versions” of this mishna as mentioning the plagues and then presents his question and answer). Since, however, the mishna mentions the plagues as well, it should pair the miracles and plagues that occurred at the same time, and not pair the miracles on the one hand and the plagues on the other hand in a way that unnecessarily violates the chronological order of events. To answer this question, Tosafot Yom Tov draws on Midrash Shmuel's answer, which answers Tosafot Yom Tov's question just as well it answered Midrash Shmuel's.
Midrash Shmuel explains that the main purpose of the plagues was to make G-d’s name known in the world, and people arrived at the conclusion that G-d was responsible for the plagues mainly because he distinguished between the Egyptians and the Jews.²⁰¹In Egypt through bringing the plagues upon the Egyptians and not upon the Jews (which is the very meaning of the “miracles in Egypt”, as Tosafot Yom Tov explained above), and at the sea through the splitting of the sea and the miracles attendant thereto, which happened only for the Jews and not for the Egyptians, who drowned in the sea. The miracles, therefore, serve to make the distinction. Therefore, since the miracles are primary in terms of the quality of spreading G-d’s name, the mishna puts them first even though chronologically they come after.

[With] ten trials did our ancestors test the Omnipresent, blessed be He, in the Wilderness, as it is said (Numbers 14:22): "Yet have they tested Me these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice:" The first is that they said (Exodus 14:11), "Are there not enough graves in Egypt?" And the second is (Exodus 15:24), "And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'What shall we drink?'" And a miracle happened that the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Moshe to throw wood into the bitter waters, as it is stated (Exodus 15:25), "And he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood." And they said in Tractate Pesachim that this tree [that the wood come from] was a hardofanei, which is bitter. He threw bitter into bitter and it turned sweet. (The editor said, I did not find this in Pesachim, but rather in Rashi on Pesachim 39 in the name of the Mekhilta on Parshat Beshalach. And Tosafot on Pesachim 36 cites the Mekhilta that it was an olive tree; and in truth these are two [different] opinions in the Mekhila - see there.) The third was in the Wilderness of Sin when they asked for bread, as it stated (Exodus 16:3), "when we sat over the fleshpot." The fourth is (Exodus 17:7) "Is the Lord amongst us or not?" There is a parable [relevant to this] about a man who carried his son on his shoulder; and [the son] was competent, but he said, "Have you seen Father?" What did his father do? He flung him from his shoulder. So did the Holy One, blessed be He, carry them 'on the wings of eagles' - [and yet they] ask, "Is the Lord amongst us?" What did He do? He brought Amalek upon them. The fifth is that they left manna over. The sixth is that in Refidim 'they did not have water for the congregation' (the editor says, I could not understand this, as he already counted this in the fourth test; and further study is also required about his whole count regarding this, and see Arakhin 16). The seventh was at Chorev with the story of the [golden] calf, as it is stated (Exodus 32:1), "the people gathered against Aharon, etc." The eighth was (Numbers 11:1), "And the people were like grumblers of evil in the ears of the Lord." And 'He set a fire of the Lord against them and it consumed the edge of the camp,' 'as the Lord, your God, is a consuming Fire, He is a jealous God.' The ninth was at the Graves of Desire (Kivrot HaTaavah) when they said (Numbers 11:4), "Who will feed us meat?" And did they not have meat; and did they not have the quail at each and all times, as it is stated (Exodus 16:8), "in that the Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satiation." And [just] like the manna did not cease, the quail [also] did not cease. Rather they wanted meat in the evening to satiation, [just] like they had the bread. And about this our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him, stated, (Numbers 11:22), "Could enough flocks and herds be slaughtered to suffice them, etc." Our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him said in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, "They have much meat; their request is [only] from the evil of their hearts. And 'since they are a stiff-necked people,' even if You give them much more, they will continue to say [there is] not enough. 'Could enough flocks and herds be slaughtered' - and their mouths will [still] not be satiated." The Holy One, blessed be He, said [back] to Him, "'Is the hand of the Lord short?' I will give them meat until they are satisfied and they will no [longer] be able to open their mouths to say, 'we are not satiated'." And He added and brought them much more of the quails 'and they spread them all around' 'and the least gathered ten chomer' and they could not eat it [all]. Such is the simple meaning of the verse. And you will [hence] come to say that Moshe did not sin with his words. But our rabbis in the Talmud (Yoma 75a) did not interpret it thus. And the tenth was in Midbar Paran when they sent the scouts. And there it states (Numbers 14:22), "and they have tried Me these ten times."

test: And even though the [golden] calf was a sin, it is called a trial; as the matter of a trial for the Holy One, blessed be He, is [the demonstration of] lack of faith and of their reliance upon Him. And so [too] is the sin of the calf, as they did not believe and they did not trust Him, that they could walk safely in the wilderness upon which He had taken them from Egypt and until here. And see Tosafot Yom Tov, who wrote about this at length and concluded that the [golden] calf should not be counted, and [that we should] count in its place, "and they rebelled upon the sea, at the Reed Sea." As we say in the gemara, that they said, "In the same way as we are coming up on this side, etc."; but "And they came to Marah" was not in their coming up from the sea. And according to the gemara that also counted the [golden] calf, one can say that the grumblers and the mixed multitude are one and that it is dependent upon the disagreement between Rabbi and Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel in Tractate Shabbat 116a, see there. And with this, the [statement] in Midrash Rabbah, Parshat Metsora comes out well when it brings "and it will be for loathing," (which is said about the mixed multitude) to be about the grumblers.

[With] ten trials did our ancestors test the Holy One, blessed be He, in the Wilderness: Two at the sea - one in going down, where it states (Exodus 14:11), "'Are there no graves in Egypt,'" and one in coming up (Exodus 15:23-24), "And they came to Marah... And they complained"; one at Refidim (Exodus 17:2), "And the people argued with Moshe"; two with the manna - [Moshe said] "do not go out" and they went out, and (Exodus 16:19-20) "no man should leave over from it... and they left over"; two with the quail - with the first [incident of quail] (Exodus 16:3), "'about our sitting over the pot of meat,'" with the second [incident of] quail (Numbers 11:4), "And the mixed multitude that was within them"; one with the [golden] calf; one with the grumblers (Numbers 11:1); and with the spies, and that is the tenth - there it states (Numbers 14:22), "and they have tried Me these ten times and they did not listen to My voice."

OUR ANCESTORS TRIED G-D WITH TEN TRIALS IN THE DESERT. Even though the Golden Calf was a sin it is called a “trial” because the notion of a “trial” of G-d is doubt and lack of faith in Him, and the sin of the calf was that they did not believe and trust in Him that they would go securely on their way in the desert through which He had guided them from Egypt until that point.
Rav does not list them chronologically, putting them in pairs instead. But there is difficulty with Rav saying that the trial at their “ascent from the sea” was that of “and they came to Marah” (Exodus 15:23)—how can this be called “ascent from the sea” when it happened three days after they had crossed? And Rambam, whose commentary Rav is quoting here, does not say that the trial at Marah had anything to do with the ascent from the sea.
The Talmud in Arachin 15a, when it says that one of the ten trials was at the ascent from the sea, explains that this trial occurred immediately upon their ascending from the sea: “They said: just as we have ascended at this point, so have the Egyptians ascended at some other point!” And the Talmud quotes the verse “And they rebelled at the sea, at the Red Sea”²⁰²We have translated yam suf as “Red Sea” in deference to convention. It is actually uncertain which sea yam suf was. (Psalms 106:7) in support of this. The Talmud’s count, despite this addition, is balanced by the omission of the trial of the “complainers”.
But why, indeed, does the Talmud not count the complainers? It seems that the Talmud understood the “complainers” (Numbers 11:1) and the “rabble” (Number 11:4) to have been one thing—even though G-d sent fire upon them they were not quieted, “and the rabble in [the nation’s] midst etc.” This is why the verse says that they “went back and wept,” for they returned to the initial complaint of the “complainers”. This accords with the Talmud in Shabbat 116a: R. Shimon ben Gamliel says: in the future, this section [“And when the ark traveled” (Numbers 10:35), which the Talmud is discussing there] will be removed from here and written in its proper place. Why was it written here? To provide a pause between the first story of punishment and the second. What is the second story of punishment? “And the people were like complainers” (Numbers 11:1). The first story of punishment is “And they travelled from the mountain of G-d [Heb. vayis`u mehar Hashem]” (Numbers 10:33), as R. Chama bar Chanina said, for they turned away from G-d [Heb. saru me'acharei Hashem]. Tosafot raise the question that the text still ends up putting two stories of punishment adjacent to one another, and offer a very forced answer.²⁰³It is unclear which Tosafot is being referred to, as our editions of the Talmud do not have Tosafot raising this question. But according to what I wrote earlier, this is precisely the point the Talmud is making: that the “complainers” and the “rabble” are just parts of one story of punishment.
We can show this as follows. For the Talmud there asks “what is the second story of punishment” but does not first ask “what is the first story”, from which we can infer that the Talmud had an idea of what the first story was. And when the line “the first story of punishment is ‘And they travelled from the mountain of G-d’” following that was subsequently put into the text it was not phrased as a question, “what is the first story of punishment”, for it was the redactor of the text who was clarifying for us what the first story was, but the question as it was originally asked in the study hall was only concerning the second story. For the original assumption in the question was that the “complainers” were complaining about the amount of Torah they had learnt at the mountain of G-d—see below—and there is no break in the text [between the punishment of the “complainers” and the punishment of the “rabble”]. The Talmud answers by saying that the second punishment is actually that of the “complainers”, and the entire succeeding text, including the story of the “rabble”, is one long story of punishment.²⁰⁴And the first story is the separate story of their travelling away from the mountain of G-d.
This is unlike Rashi’s approach, that the Talmud answers that the story of the “rabble” is the first story of punishment, which had started after they turned away from G-d. Tosafot there already take issue with his approach and quote the Midrash Vayechulu saying that the first punishment is that they turned away from G-d because they had learned much Torah at Sinai, like a child running out of school.
[*I found support for this in Midrash Rabbah on parashat Metzora (Vayikra Rabbah 18:4), which asks why Israel was punished with the afflictions of emissions and leprosy and quotes several amoraic opinions. One of them is that of R. Yehudah berabbi Shimon who says that they come from the “complainers”, for the verse there says “until it comes out of your noses and becomes nauseating [Heb. lezara] to you” (Numbers 11:20): “What is zara? It will be zorna and bisna for you.” Matnot Kehuna there explains in the name of Aruch that these are types of swelling and boils. And numerous other amoraim there explain lezara as somehow referring to such things. Now if the “complainers” and the “rabble” were not both part of the same story, how could the midrash say that the source is from the “complainers” and proceed to bring a proof from “it will become nauseating to you”, a verse that was said in the story of the “rabble”? It must be that the whole thing is one story, and this is a strong proof of my position.
Also, I say that the plain meaning of the verses indicates as much, for the text says “and the rabble… went back and wept”, and the meaning of “went back” is that they went back to what they had already been doing. And otherwise, what is the purpose of writing that they “went back” altogether? This is also a clear proof.]
For Rambam and Rav, who see the “complainers” and “rabble” as two separate trials, one might say that they hold like Rabbi in that passage in Shabbat 116a who says that the section “and when the ark travelled” is in its proper place and does not see it as a break between two stories of punishment,²⁰⁵He must hold, in general, that there is no need for a break between two stories of punishment. The stories of the “complainers” and the “rabble” can then also be seen as two stories, even though there is no break between them. and the mishna in Yadayim 3:5 goes according to Rabbi. In any case, I feel that the Golden Calf should not be included in this count at all,²⁰⁶If we follow Rav and Rambam’s position of counting the “complainers” and the “rabble” as two, we cannot also include the trials at the ascent from the sea and at Marah as two separate trials—as Tosafot Yom Tov has shown they are—for then the count comes to eleven. Tosafot Yom Tov proposes deleting the sin of the Golden Calf from the list of trials and preserving the trials at the ascent from the sea and Marah as separate ones. for it is a sin, not a trial. In its stead I would count what the Talmud says in Arachin based on the verse “and they rebelled at the sea, at the Red Sea”. And the Torah has seventy facets.²⁰⁷I.e., there are many different ways to count the ten trials throughout the midrashic and medieval literature, and Tosafot Yom Tov is merely adding another.

in the Wilderness: As because they were in the wilderness - a desolate place with no inhabitants and lacking everything and having nothing - they thought that maybe it was from the lack of His supervision, may He be blessed, of this region, and therefore they tested Him. And that is [the reason] that it was precise to teach, "in the Wilderness" and actually called the Holy One, blessed be He, "the Omnipresent (literally, the Place)" here; to teach that He is the Place of the world without any [part of the world being] devoid of His supervision. So is it explained in Midrash Shmuel.