פרשת בהעלותך תשי"ז - אלדד ומידד

ושמתי עליהם AND I WILL PUT IT UPON THEM — What was Moses like to at that moment? He was like to a light that is placed in a candlestick at which everybody lights his lamps and yet its illuminating power is not the least diminished (Sifrei Bamidbar 93).

קח לך TAKE TO THEE [JOSHUA] — take him through fine words, saying,“Fortunate are you that you have merited to lead the children of the Omnipresent!” (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 92 on 11:16).

§ Apropos the appointment of the Elders by Moses, the Gemara discusses additional aspects of that event. There were seventy-two candidates for Elder but only seventy were needed. They were chosen by lots with their names put into a box. The Sages taught: The verse states: “And there remained two men in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad, and the spirit rested upon them, and they were among those who were written but who did not go out to the tent, and they prophesied in the camp” (Numbers 11:26). Where did they remain? Some say this means they, i.e., their names, remained excluded from those selected from the lots in the box. The baraita explains: At the time that the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: “Gather for Me seventy men of the Elders of Israel” (Numbers 11:16), Moses said: How shall I do it? If I select six from each and every tribe, there will be a total of seventy-two, which will be two extra. But if I select five from each and every tribe, there will be a total of sixty, lacking ten. And if I select six from this tribe and five from that tribe, I will bring about envy between the tribes, as those with fewer representatives will resent the others. What did he do? He selected six from every tribe and he brought seventy-two slips [pitakin]. On seventy of them he wrote: Elder, and he left two of them blank. He mixed them and placed them in the box. He then said to the seventy-two chosen candidates: Come and draw your slips. Everyone whose hand drew up a slip that said: Elder, he said to him: Heaven has already sanctified you. And everyone whose hand drew up a blank slip, he said to him: The Omnipresent does not desire you; what can I do for you?

Rabbi Shimon says: Eldad and Medad remained in the camp, as they did not want to come to the lottery for the Elders. At the time that the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: Gather for me seventy Elders, Eldad and Medad said: We are not fitting for that level of greatness; we are not worthy of being appointed among the Elders. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: Since you have made yourselves humble, I will add greatness to your greatness. And what is the greatness that he added to them? It was that all of the prophets, meaning the other Elders, who were given prophecy, prophesied for a time and then stopped prophesying, but they prophesied and did not stop.

וישארו שני אנשים BUT THERE REMAINED TWO MEN [IN THE CAMP] — i. e. two of them that had been selected. They remained, in the camp because they said, “We are not worthy of this distinction” (Sifrei Bamidbar 25:2).

והמה בכתובים [BUT THERE REMAINED TWO MEN IN THE CAMP] … AND THEY WERE AMONGST THEM THAT WERE WRITTEN — i.e. they were amongst those of them (of the people) who had been selected to constitute the Sanhedrion. For all these were written down, mentioned expressly by their names, but the requisite number was chosen by lot, because the calculation gives for twelve tribes, six elders for each tribe, with the exception of two tribes to each of which there would belong only five elders. Moses said, “No tribe will listen to me to have one elder less for his tribe!” What did he do? He took seventy-two tablets and wrote on seventy of them the word “Elder” and on two he left the surface blank. He then selected six men of each tribe so that there were altogether 72. He said to them, “Draw your tablets from the urn”. He in whose hand there came up a tablet bearing the inscription “Elder” was set apart as a member of the Sanhedrion, whilst to him in whose hand there came up a blank tablet, he said, “The Omnipresent does not require you” (Sifrei Bamidbar 95:2; Sanhedrin 11a).

But there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were recorded, but had not gone out unto the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.

כלאם — (This is taken as the equivalent of כַּלֵּם, “destroy them”, “make an end of them”; cf. Rashi on Exodus 17:9) — He meant: cast upon them the responsibility for public affairs and they will of themselves soon come to an end (through the worry and anxiety this entails). — Another explanation is: that the word means put them into prison (כלא). He said this because they were prophesying, “Moses will die and Joshua will bring Israel into the Land” (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 96; Sanhedrin 17a).

And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses from his youth up, answered and said: ‘My lord Moses, shut them in.’

And Moses said unto him: ‘Art thou jealous for my sake? would that all the LORD’S people were prophets, that the LORD would put His spirit upon them! ’