The Shechinah made ten gradual ascents in passing from place to place:—­From the cover of the ark to the cherub (2 Sam. xxii. 11); thence to the threshold of the house (Ezek. ix. 3); thence to the cherubim (Ezek. x. 18); thence to the roof of the Temple (Prov. xxi. 9); thence to the wall of the court (Amos vii. 7); thence to the altar (Amos ix. 1); thence to the city (Micah vi. 9); thence to the mount (Ezek. xi. 23); thence to the wilderness (Prov. xxi. 9); whence the Shechinah went up, as it is said (Hosea v. 15), “I will go and return to my place.”

Avoth d Rab.  Nathan, chap. 34.

Ten different terms are employed to express the title of prophet:—­Ambassador, Faithful, Servant, Messenger, Seer, Watchman, Seer of Vision, Dreamer, Prophet, Man of God.

Ibid.

Ten distinct designations are applied to the Holy Spirit:—­Proverb, Interpretation, Dark, Saying, Oracle, Utterance, Decree, Burden, Prophecy, Vision.

Ibid.

Ten are designated by the term Life or Living:—­God, the law, Israel, the righteous, the garden of Eden, the tree of life, the land of Israel, Jerusalem, benevolence, the sages; and water also is described as life, as it is said (Zech. xiv. 8), “And it shall be in that day that living water shall go out from Jerusalem.”

Ibid.

If there are ten beds piled upon one another, and if beneath the lowermost there be any tissue woven of linen and wool (Lev. xix. 19), it is unlawful to lie down upon them.

Tamid, fol. 27, col. 2.

Alexander of Macedon proposed ten queries to the elders of the south:—­“Which are more remote from each other, the heavens from the earth or the east from the west?” They answered, “The east is more remote from the west, for when the sun is either in the east or in the west, any one can gaze upon him; but when the sun is in the zenith or heaven, none can gaze at him, he is so much nearer.”  The Mishnaic Rabbis, on the other hand, say they are equidistant; for it is written (Ps. ciii. 11, 12), “As the heavens are from the earth, ... so is the east removed from the west.”  Alexander then asked, “Were the heavens created first or was the earth?” “The heavens,” they replied, “for it is said, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’” He then asked, “Was light created first or was darkness?” They replied, “This is an unanswerable question.”  They should have answered darkness was created first, for it is said, “And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep,” and after this, “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.”

Tamid., fol. 31, col. 2.

There are ten degrees of holiness, and the land of Israel is holy above all other lands.

Kelim, chap. i, mish. 6.

There are ten places which, though Gentile habitations are not considered unclean:—­(1.) Arab tents; (2.) A watchman’s hut; (3.) The top of a tower; (4.) A fruit-store; (5.) A summer-house; (6.) A gatekeeper’s lodge; (7.) An uncovered courtyard; (8.) A bath-house; (9.) An armory; (10.) A military camp.