Chapter Five

Perek 5

פֶּרֶק ה

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Hebrew

אֲבוֹתֵינוּ אֶת הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ
הוּא בַּמִּדְבָּר, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיְנַסּוּ
אֹתִי זֶה עֶשֶׂר פְּעָמִים, וְלֹא
שָׁמְעוּ בְּקוֹלִי.

Sephardi

avoteinu et haKadosh Baruch
Hu bamidbar, shene'emar: vaynasu
oti zeh eser pe'amim, v'lo
sham'u b'koli.

English

the patience of God, the Holy One, blessed be He, in the desert with ten tests, as God says in the Torah: They have tested Me these ten times and they have not listened to My voice.

Hebrew

ה עֲשָׂרָה נִסִּים נַעֲשׂוּ
לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְּבֵית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ:
לֹא הִפִּילָה אִשָּׁה מֵרֵיחַ בְּשַׂר
הַקֹּדֶשׁ, וְלֹא הִסְרִיחַ בְּשַׂר
הַקֹּדֶשׁ מֵעוֹלָם, וְלֹא נִרְאָה
זְבוּב בְּבֵית הַמִּטְבָּחִים, וְלֹא
אֵירַע קֶרִי לְכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל בְּיוֹם
הַכִּפּוּרִים, וְלֹא כִבּוּ הַגְּשָׁמִים
אֵשׁ שֶׁל עֲצֵי הַמַּעֲרָכָה, וְלֹא
נָצְחָה הָרוּחַ אֶת עַמּוּד הֶעָשָׁן,
וְלֹא נִמְצָא פְסוּל בָּעֹמֶר
וּבִשְׁתֵּי הַלֶּחֶם וּבְלֶחֶם הַפָּנִים,
עוֹמְדִים צְפוּפִים וּמִשְׁתַּחֲוִים
רְוָחִים,1 וְלֹא הִזִּיק נָחָשׁ
וְעַקְרָב בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם, וְלֹא אָמַר
אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ: צַר לִי הַמָּקוֹם
שֶׁאָלִין בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם.

Sephardi

5 Asarah nisim na'asu
la'avoteinu beveit haMikdash:
Lo hipilah ishah merei'ach b'sar
hakodesh, v'lo hisri'ach b'sar
hakodesh me'olam, v'lo nir'ah
z'vuv beveit hamitbachim, v'lo
eira keri l'chohen gadol b'yom
hakipurim, v'lo chibu hag'shamim
esh shel atzei hama'arachah, v'lo
natz'chah haru'ach et amud he'ashan,
v'lo nimtza p'sul ba'omer
uvishtei hallechem uvlechem hapanim,
omdim tz'fufim umishtachavim
r'vachim,1 v'lo hizik nachash
v'akrav biYerushalayim, v'lo amar
adam lachavero: tzar li hamakom
she'alin biYerushalayim.

English

5 Ten miracles were done for our ancestors in the Holy Temple: 1. No woman miscarried because of cravings caused by the smell of the roasting meat of the offerings. 2. The meat of the offerings never became rotten. 3. No fly was seen in the place where the offerings were cut up. 4. Never did the High Priest become impure on Yom Kippur. 5. The rains did not extinguish the fire of the wood-pile on the altar. 6. The wind did not succeed in disrupting the neat column of smoke rising from the fire on the altar. 7. No disqualifying issues were ever found with the Omer offering on the second day of Pesach, with the two loaves offered on Shavuot, or with the Showbread baked each week. 8. When the people in the Holy Temple stood, they were packed together; yet when they bowed, they had plenty of space.1 9. No snake or scorpion caused harm in Jerusalem. 10. No one said to his friend, "The space is too crowded for me to stay overnight in Jerusalem."

Hebrew

ו עֲשָׂרָה דְבָרִים נִבְרְאוּ בְּעֶרֶב
שַׁבָּת בֵּין הַשְּׁמָשׁוֹת, וְאֵלּוּ
הֵן: פִּי הָאָרֶץ, פִּי הַבְּאֵר, פִּי
הָאָתוֹן, הַקֶּשֶׁת, וְהַמָּן, וְהַמַּטֶּה,
וְהַשָּׁמִיר, הַכְּתָב, וְהַמִּכְתָּב,

Sephardi

6 Asarah d'varim nivr'u b'erev
Shabbat bein hashemashot, v'eilu
hen: pi ha'aretz, pi hab'er, pi
ha'aton, hakeshet, v'haman, v'hamateh,
v'hashamir, hak'tav, v'hamichtav,

English

6 Ten miraculous things were created on Friday, at twilight—at the end of the sixth day of creation. They are: 1. The opening of the earth that swallowed Korach and his followers; 2. the opening of the well that provided water for the Jewish Nation in the desert; 3. the mouth of Bilaam's talking donkey; 4. the rainbow that appeared after the Flood; 5. the Manna that the Jewish Nation ate in the desert; 6. the stick that Moses used to perform miracles; 7. the Shamir worm that cut the stones used to build the Holy Temple; 8. the written shape of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; 9. the engraved writing of the

Hebrew

וְהַלּוּחוֹת. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים: אַף
קִבְרוֹ שֶׁל מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ, וְאֵילוֹ
שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ. וְיֵשׁ
אוֹמְרִים: אַף הַמַּזִּיקִין, וְאַף
צְבָת בִּצְבָת עֲשׂוּיָה.2

Sephardi

v'haluchot. V'yesh omrim: af
kivro shel Moshe Rabbeinu, v'eilo
shel Avraham avinu. V'yesh
omrim: af hamazikin, v'af
tz'vat bitz'vat asuyah.2

English

Tablets; 10. the first Tablets. Some say that the grave of Moses and the ram that our forefather Abraham offered at the Binding of Isaac instead of Isaac were also created then, and some say that the destructive spirits were also created then, and even the first tongs. Because tongs are needed to make other tongs,2 God created the first pair, enabling man to create more.

Hebrew

ז שִׁבְעָה דְבָרִים בַּגּוֹלֶם
וְשִׁבְעָה בֶּחָכָם, חָכָם: אֵינוֹ
מְדַבֵּר לִפְנֵי מִי שֶׁגָּדוֹל מִמֶּנּוּ
בְּחָכְמָה וּבְמִנְיָן, וְאֵינוֹ נִכְנָס
לְתוֹךְ דִּבְרֵי חֲבֵרוֹ, וְאֵינוֹ נִבְהָל
לְהָשִׁיב, שׁוֹאֵל כָּעִנְיָן וּמֵשִׁיב
כַּהֲלָכָה, וְאוֹמֵר עַל רִאשׁוֹן
רִאשׁוֹן וְעַל אַחֲרוֹן אַחֲרוֹן,
וְעַל מַה שֶּׁלֹּא שָׁמַע אוֹמֵר לֹא
שָׁמַעְתִּי,3 וּמוֹדֶה עַל הָאֱמֶת,
וְחִלּוּפֵיהֶן בְּגוֹלָם.

Sephardi

7 Shiv'ah d'varim bagolem
v'shiv'ah bechacham, chacham: eino
m'daber lifnei mi shegadol mimenu
bechochmah uvminyan, v'eino nichnas
l'toch divrei chavero, v'eino nivhal
lehashiv, sho'el ka'inyan umeshiv
kahalachah, ve'omer al rishon
rishon ve'al acharon acharon,
ve'al mah shelo shama omer lo
shama'ti,3 umodeh al ha'emet,
v'chilufeihen b'golem.

English

7 There are seven things a foolish person does, and seven things a wise person does. A wise person 1. does not speak in front of someone who is greater than him in wisdom or in years of age; 2. does not interrupt his friend while he is speaking; 3. does not rush to answer a question—he thinks carefully first; 4. asks questions that are relevant to the subject, and replies to the point; 5. speaks in an orderly and systematic manner, dealing with matters of first priority first, and the least important matters last; 6. says, "I have not heard" when people ask him about things he has not heard;3 7. and acknowledges the truth when he is wrong, and does not continue to justify his previous opinion. A foolish person does the opposite of all these things.

Hebrew

ח שִׁבְעָה מִינֵי פּוּרְעָנִיּוֹת
בָּאִין לָעוֹלָם, עַל שִׁבְעָה
גּוּפֵי עֲבֵרָה: מִקְצָתָן מְעַשְּׂרִין

Sephardi

8 Shiv'ah minei pur'aniyot
ba'in la-olam, al shiv'ah
gufei averah: miktzatam m'asrin

English

8 Seven types of punishment come to the world because of seven types of sins: 1. If some people tithe and some do not tithe, a famine comes caused by people not planting or harvesting