Beyond the Ten Utterances
1. A Question of Sequence
{The Mishnah in Avos states:}1
With ten utterances the world was created. What does this come to teach us? Could it not have been created with a single utterance? Rather, [it was so] in order to exact payment from the wicked who destroy the world that was created with ten utterances, and to give good reward to the righteous who sustain the world that was created with ten utterances.
This raises a well-known question.2 Since Hashem is the very essence of good, and the nature of the good is to bestow good,3 how can we say that the reason Hashem created the world with ten utterances is “in order to exact payment from the wicked who destroy the world that was created with ten utterances”?!
The matter is even more puzzling. The Mishnah places this purpose — {“to exact payment from the wicked”} — before “to give good reward to the righteous.” This implies that exacting payment from the wicked was the primary intent behind creating the world with ten utterances.
Seemingly, the order should have been reversed. After all, the world was obviously created so that it would endure. Therefore, the primary purpose of creating the world (with ten utterances) should be to give good reward to the righteous who sustain it. The notion of “exacting payment from the wicked who destroy the world” should only exist to allow for the possibility of free choice.
Now, this cannot be compared to the teaching of our Sages4 that “at first, His intention was to create the world with the attribute of justice, but He perceived that the world would not endure; so He joined the attribute of mercy with it.” From that teaching, it appears that the attribute of justice did, in fact, come first, as His initial plan for creation.
{There are two reasons why this comparison is flawed.} First, that teaching refers to the stage prior to creation, whereas the actual creation was only accomplished by “joining the attribute of mercy with it.”5 Second, the initial thought to create the world with the attribute of justice did not mean the primary intent was to judge and punish created beings. On the contrary, “this is an aspect of the ultimate good”:6 by instilling the dread of judgment and the fear of punishment, people will refrain from sinning and acting wickedly. In our Mishnah, by contrast, the emphasis is that the world’s creation with ten utterances was explicitly “to exact payment from the wicked.”
2. Payment, Not Vengeance
The commentaries resolve this7 based on the precise wording of the Mishnah: “to exact payment (l’hipara) from the wicked,” rather than “to punish (l’ha’anish) the wicked.” The intent of the Mishnah is that Hashem does not desire the death of the wicked — punishing them “by way of vengeance, to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate.” Rather, {He seeks} “to be forbearing and to collect what is His8 by way of repayment.” {They explain this dynamic as follows:}
Had the world been created with but a single utterance, then the wicked, who destroy the world through their wickedness… would blemish the one utterance with which the world was created… and nothing would remain unblemished, since everything was created with a single utterance, and there would be no room to show them forbearance… for they would already have blemished everything. Now, however, [the world] was created with ten utterances… so as to exact payment from the wicked by way of repaying a debt, and not by way of vengeance.
This explanation, however, only clarifies that “exacting payment from the wicked” is itself a result of Hashem’s goodness and kindness, in that He desires to extend His forbearance even toward the wicked.9 It still does not resolve why the Tanna places the payment of the wicked before the reward of the righteous.
After all, “exacting payment from the wicked” is ultimately an additional reason for creating the world with ten utterances, ensuring that benefit reaches the wicked as well. The primary purpose, it would seem, is to grant reward to the righteous — a greater reward, since they sustain a world created with ten utterances.
3. The Missing Ten
To understand this, we must first raise a broader question.
Later in this chapter, the Mishnah enumerates several matters that number ten. This demands explanation: why is the most fundamental matter of all omitted — that the Torah was given in Ten Commandments?
This omission cannot be justified by a lack of novelty — i.e., the Torah itself already explicitly identifies them as “the Ten Commandments”10 — for even among the items the Mishnah does list, some are well known to number ten and are explicitly quantified as such; for example: “Ten trials11 our forefathers tested {G-d}… as it is stated,12 ‘and they tested Me these ten times.’”13
This omission is even more glaring in light of the teaching of our Sages,14 on the verse,15 “ten, ten [shekels] per ladle, by the sacred shekel,” that the ten utterances correspond to the Ten Commandments.16 This demonstrates that the number ten of the utterances — with which the Tanna begins — is inextricably linked to the number ten of the Ten Commandments.
4. Ten, the Complete Number
The crux of the explanation is as follows.
The reason the Tanna identifies these various matters as numbering ten, is to underscore their immense importance — for ten is “the complete number” (mispar hashaleim). We find the completeness of this number across a range of contexts, as cited in various seforim;17 for example:
a) In every physical object, there are three dimensions — length, width, and depth — and each of these is itself composed of three elements: a beginning, a middle, and an end. Together with the space that “contains” them, this yields the number ten. In the terminology of the Rambam:18 “The substance and its nine accidents [i.e., non-essential properties].”
b) In the human lifespan, every ten years marks a distinct phase, as stated in the chapter’s concluding mishnah: “at twenty… at thirty…”
c) In the human soul, there are ten faculties.19
The completeness of the number ten is likewise found in the realm of mitzvos: when ten Jews gather, they constitute a holy congregation — and indeed, “wherever ten individuals are present, the Divine Presence rests”;20 in various contexts, we find the principle that “the tenth shall be holy”;21 and so forth.22
In light of this, it becomes clear that the number ten (a complete number) assigned to the items detailed in the mishnayos of this chapter indicates their importance and perfection.
All the above, however, applies only to matters within creation, since the world is structured such that completeness is expressed by the number ten. The Torah, by contrast, transcends the world. Thus, there is no basis to suggest that its transmission via the Ten Commandments indicates its lofty stature and importance — as will be explained below.
5. The Torah as the Source of Ten
The explanation is as follows:
The reason the number ten represents completeness in every area is that the Creator implanted this pattern within creation. Hashem created His world with ten utterances, corresponding — as noted by the commentaries on this mishnah23 — to the ten supernal Sefiros. From there, this pattern extended throughout all the worlds and became embedded within them — in the familiar terminology, “throughout the entire seder hishtalshelus {the chainlike descent of the worlds}” — establishing ten as the structure through which each world attains completeness.
This does not mean, however, that the completeness associated with ten is intrinsically necessary. It is inconceivable, G-d forbid, that Hashem is bound by any necessity. Rather, in His free choice, He willed to emanate ten Sefiros — “ten and not nine, ten and not eleven.”24 The completeness associated with ten throughout the world followed from that choice. In other words, only after Hashem, of His own will, chose the number ten did it become the measure of completeness in every world and on every level. Prior to — and above — this will to emanate ten Sefiros, there was no basis for attributing completeness specifically to ten, or to any other number.25
Had Hashem chosen to create the world with a different number of Sefiros — along the lines of the Mishnah’s statement here, “It could have been created with a single utterance” — completeness would have been associated specifically with that number.
On this basis, we can also understand the significance of the number ten in the Torah — the Ten Commandments.
Our Sages teach26 that the Torah is the “craftsman’s tool” of the Holy One, blessed be He — the “blueprints and notebooks” through which He created the world. Clearly, this refers not only to the creation of our physical world; all the worlds were created through the Torah. It follows that the very parameters of the world — including the fact that its various elements attain completeness specifically at ten — were themselves created through the Torah.
We can now understand that the Torah was not given through the Ten Commandments as a result of the completeness associated with the number ten. Quite the contrary: Since the Torah is the “blueprint” for all of creation, its articulation through the Ten {Commandments} is itself what causes ten to represent completeness throughout creation. In other words, by giving the Torah through the Ten Commandments, Hashem revealed His will — which transcends reason — that the entire seder hishtalshelus be structured according to the number ten and thereby attain completeness.
To return to the analogy, the blueprints express and reveal the will of the craftsman building the house.
This explains why the Ten Commandments are not listed in these mishnayos alongside the other matters that number ten. {Unlike those other cases,} the number ten does not highlight the Torah’s unique stature or importance. Quite the contrary — as explained above, the number ten became significant because the Torah was given through the Ten Commandments; the Ten Commandments do not owe their supreme importance to their number.
6. Beyond the Established Order
Now, not only is the completeness of the number ten not inherently necessitated within the order of creation; its primary cause is solely Hashem’s will and choice, which transcend reason. Moreover, even after this pattern was established in the nature of creation, Hashem is not, G-d forbid, bound by it and can change it.
In other words, once the world was created through the ten utterances (which correspond to the ten Sefiros), the completeness of every world — and every individual entity — is defined by the number ten, and we cannot conceive of it otherwise. Indeed, even matters of Torah and Yiddishkeit are defined specifically by this number, as explained above. Nevertheless, this is true only from our perspective, as created beings brought into existence through the ten utterances. Hashem, however, is not bound by His will, G-d forbid. Even after establishing this pattern in His world, He can change it; He can create or bring about within creation something whose completeness is not defined by ten — or, beyond that, something entirely outside the parameters of creation.
[This is analogous to miracles, which override the natural order. Although the world operates according to the laws of nature — as the Torah states, “seedtime… and day and night shall not cease”27 — it is clear that this is only because Hashem established it so. These laws do not impose any necessity upon Him, G-d forbid, and He can alter the parameters of nature however He wills. At times, Hashem performs miracles that override the natural order, making it evident to all that even after establishing the laws of nature, He is not bound by them, G-d forbid, and can change them.28]
This is also one of the meanings of the Tanna’s words here: “With ten utterances the world was created… Could it not have been created with a single utterance?” The Tanna is not merely informing us of what was possible in the past; he is also teaching that even now, after the world has been created through ten utterances, this capacity remains.29
However, since this capacity transcends the ten utterances through which the world was created, it likewise operates in a manner that does not conform to the parameters of the world, as will be explained below.
7. Two Modes of Divine Service
The two aforementioned concepts concerning creation — namely, (a) that all aspects and patterns of creation operate in the mode of “they shall not cease” (including the completeness of the number ten, since creation was brought into being through the ten utterances); and (b) that “it [could] have been created with a single utterance,” reflecting Hashem’s infinite power, which is not confined by any limitation, and operates within the world unconstrained by the world’s parameters — also find expression in a person’s avodah:
a) Man is a created being, which is limited and defined by the parameters and order of creation — in the language of our Sages, “we do not rely on a miracle.”30
b) Since the soul of every Jew is “an actual part of G-d above,”31 he has the power to “reach” and serve Hashem32 in a manner that transcends creation.
In general terms — reflecting the world as it was created in its fullness, and man in his completeness — these are the two modes of avodah: the avodah of tzaddikim and the avodah of teshuvah. The distinction between them is as follows:33
The avodah of tzaddikim follows the order of “an upright man who walks straight” — “G-d made man upright”34 — an ordered avodah in accordance with the ways of the Torah. In the avodah of ba’alei teshuvah, by contrast, even one who has sinned, caused blemish, and strayed from the path, G-d forbid — transgressing the ways of the Torah — returns through teshuvah and once again draws close to Hashem, cleaving to Him (“to cleave {to Him}”)35 and fulfilling His mitzvos with increased strength.36
This distinction is also reflected in the effect each mode of avodah has within the world. The avodah of tzaddikim operates only within matters permitted by the Torah, which the tzaddik engages in for the sake of Heaven. It does not extend to forbidden matters: the tzaddik has no contact or dealings with them and rejects them entirely.37 In the avodah of ba’alei teshuvah, by contrast, through teshuvah,38 one’s intentional sins become like merits.39
A parallel distinction exists among the levels of the soul associated with the avodah of tzaddikim and the avodah of teshuvah. The advantage of the avodah of teshuvah is that it derives specifically from the yechidah within the soul.40 The avodah of tzaddikim — which represents the perfection of Divine service according to the order that should characterize a Jew’s life — is associated primarily with service through the revealed faculties of the soul, which number ten. As explained above, the completeness of all matters of creation depends specifically on the number ten. The avodah of teshuvah, however, transcends the ordinary order — an order so firmly established that “one who says, ‘I will sin and repent,’ is not granted the opportunity to repent”41 — and takes the form of serving Hashem “with all your might,”42 beyond the measure and limitation of the number ten and of the faculties of the soul. It is therefore associated with the level of “one” (echad),43 which derives from the yechidah within the soul, itself called “one” (achas), as stated in Tosafos.44
8. The Debtor Who Repays
In light of the above, the words of the Mishnah may now be understood: “With ten utterances … to exact payment from the wicked….”
As noted above, the commentaries focus on the Mishnah’s precise wording, “to exact payment from the wicked” (rather than “to punish”). They explain that its meaning is “to collect what is His by way of repayment.” In other words, the intent is not to punish the sinner out of vengeance, but to impose a punishment that leads him to “repay” the “debt” he is obligated to “pay” for his evil deed.
Every soul descends to this world on a mission from Hashem: to make a dwelling for Him in the lower realms (dirah b’tachtonim).45 This mission is fulfilled through the observance of Torah and mitzvos. One who has sinned, caused blemish, and strayed from the path, G-d forbid, thereby becomes a “debtor” to Hashem, for he must still complete the mission incumbent upon him.
This debt is repaid through teshuvah, by which he rectifies all the deficiencies caused by his sins. This is the essence of “exacting payment from the wicked”: Hashem demands that the wicked repay the debt they owe Him, as it were, by doing teshuvah. [This also explains punishment in its plain sense: its purpose is not the punishment itself, but to bring a person to teshuvah.]46
On this basis, the continuation of the Tanna’s words — “(to exact payment from the wicked) who destroy the world that was created with ten utterances” — may be understood on a deeper level: even this description carries a positive implication — one that reflects the distinctive advantage of the avodah of teshuvah. Through teshuvah, they build “a new world”:47 their daily conduct is transformed and carried out with increased strength, to the point that their souls’ thirst for Hashem surpasses that of the souls of tzaddikim.48
This, then, is the meaning of “to exact payment from the wicked who destroy the world that was created with ten utterances”: the “repayment” of the wicked consists in their destroying and nullifying the constraints and limitations of the world, stemming from its creation through the “ten utterances.” Through teshuvah, Hashem’s capacity, which transcends the ten utterances (and the ten Sefiros), is revealed within the world. This capacity is not confined by the parameters of creation, and through it He governs the world. This will find expression even in physical reality in the Future Era, when “the Land of Israel will bring forth ready-baked loaves and fine wool garments”49 and the like.
9. Why Teshuvah Comes First
On this basis, the continuation of the Mishnah can be understood.
At the beginning of the Mishnah, the Tanna states, “With ten utterances the world was created. What does this come to teach us? Could it not have been created with a single utterance?” As explained above, this describes two dimensions of creation: (a) the limitations inherent in creation because it was brought into being through ten utterances; and (b) the simultaneous presence of the “single utterance” through which it “could… have been created” — Hashem’s capacity, which is not confined by any parameters and is likewise at work within creation.50
In keeping with this, the Tanna proceeds to describe two corresponding modes of avodah. First, “to exact payment from the wicked who destroy the world that was created with ten utterances” — referring to the avodah of teshuvah, which derives from the “single utterance” through which the world “could… have been created.” This avodah therefore nullifies the limitations within this world that ultimately derive from the ten utterances.
The Tanna then continues, “and to give good reward to the righteous who sustain the world that was created with ten utterances.” Through their avodah in fulfilling Torah and mitzvos, they sustain and reinforce the ten utterances and, through them, creation itself.
This also explains why the Tanna places “to exact payment from the wicked” before “to give good reward to the righteous.” Not only is the avodah of teshuvah loftier than the avodah of tzaddikim — as reflected in the teaching, “Where ba’alei teshuvah stand, even perfect tzaddikim cannot stand”51 — it also has a distinctive advantage in its effect within the world, which was created with ten utterances.52 Specifically through teshuvah, even intentional sins are transformed into merits. Thus, even these most lowly elements — “a realm so low that none is lower” — become a “dwelling” for Hashem.
From a sichah delivered on Shabbos Parshas Chukas-Balak 5742 (1982)
