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Pirkei Avot
Biblical Faith – with Shmuel “Sam” Peak
Weekly series with new shows available every Tuesday.
Chapter 5
Mishnah 5
Ten miracles were performed for our ancestors.
The ten miracles are the ten plaques that HaShem brought on behalf of the Children of Yisra’el, when He took them out of Egypt.
Rambam considers the tem miracles to be the fact that the Jews were saved from the ten plaques. The plaques afflicted the land of Mitzrayim but miraculously bypassed the Jews. For example, if a Jew and an Egyptian were together during the plaque of darkness, the Egyptian would experience darkness and the Jew would have light.
Dedicated to Glen and Michelle Magnusson.
Biblical Faith – with Shmuel “Sam” Peak
Weekly series with new shows available every Tuesday.
Chapter 5
Mishnah 4
Our forefather Avraham was tested with ten trials.
Why did HaShem test Avraham? HaShem knew what Avraham was like without conducting a test.
HaShem desires a good person’s righteousness to be actively apparent. He tests good people so that their righteous response will serve as a role model for the rest of humanity. HaShem endowed Avraham with many good qualities so that, through his righteous reputation, he would serve as a mentor to the entire human race.
In memory of Vera Cressman.
Biblical Faith – with Shmuel “Sam” Peak
Weekly series with new shows available every Tuesday.
Mishnah 2 and 3
A person functions at three levels. The highest level is tzelem, a reference to mankind’s image of G-d, an aspect of which is the independent spirit of individual existence. The middle level is tzurah, which literally means form. It is the aspect of personality that seeks to impose form and structure on things, on oneself and on others. The level called chomer, is the physical, pragmatic plane of existence. The qualities of tzelem and tzurah are, of course, more spiritual and intellectual whereas chomer is totally physical.
In memory of Vera Cressman
Biblical Faith – with Shmuel “Sam” Peak
Weekly series with new shows available every Tuesday.
Chapter 5
Mishnah 1d
How do the wicked destroy the world?
G-d maintains the world’s existence because of its value in bringing mankind close to Him through the mitzvaot. Without mitzvaot, mankind would be insignificant; indeed the first man was given seven commandments on the day of creation. In the time of Noach these commandments were not obeyed and the world lost its justification for existence. Scripture relates: “And He destroyed every living thing which was upon the face of the earth, whether man or animals or creeping things or birds of the heaven.”
Biblical Faith – with Shmuel “Sam” Peak
Weekly series with new shows available every Tuesday.
Chapter 5
Mishnah 1c
The fact that physical Creation is imbued with holiness is hinted at by the ‘for with the “yud” and the “hei” G-d fashioned the worlds’ Yeshiyahu (Isaiah) 26:4. With these two letters He created the world and the World to Come.
The letter “yud”, is the instrument through which He created the World to Come. It is a place of holiness and the Divine Presence, appropriately symbolized by the tenth letter, “yud.”
G-d created this world through the letter
“hei.” Since G-d is One, the world He created will in some way reflect G-d’s unity. On the other hand, the material world is very different from G-d and therefore it must have the ability to have multiple, separate components.
In memory of: Rabbi Udi and Ruth Fogel and children: Yoav, Elad, and Hadas
Biblical Faith – with Shmuel “Sam” Peak
Weekly series with new shows available every Tuesday.
Chapter 5
Mishnah 1b
Ten
The following illustrate the sanctity that is associated with the numbers ten:
a) The Divine Presence comes to a group of ten people gathered for joint study or prayer.
b) The Ten Commandments
c) The creation of the World to Come is hinted at in Scripture through the letter yud, which is the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
d) The number ten expresses the following properties of holiness:
e) Holiness is a total, encompassing principle; it is not specific items.
f) It is complete, whole and not divisible.
g) Holiness exerts a unifying influence, since it is a quality of the one G-d.
Biblical Faith – with Shmuel “Sam” Peak
Weekly series with new shows available every Tuesday.
Chapter 5
Mishnah 1a
The Messages of Numbers
The Hebrew language is unique, because Hebrew words describe not only an object but its very essence. For example, the Hebrew word for “eye” means both the anatomical eye and the essence of vision. Similarly, the numbers quoted in the mishnayot of this chapter have a deeper meaning which transcends mere quantity.
Dedicated to Jerry and Penny Dean