Taking a Closer Look (Rabbi Dov Kramer)
“And two men remained in the camp; the name of the first was Eldud and the name of the second was Meidud” (Bamidbar 11:26). Rashi, based on Chazal, explains why they “remained in the camp” instead of “going out to the Tent [of Meeting]” (ibid). Moshe had chosen 72 elders, six from each of the 12 Tribes, and had devised a process for deciding which 70 of those 72 elders would make up the newly-forming Sanhedrin. Eldud and Meidud had made the cut to be part of the 72, but due to their humility, didn’t go to the Mishkan to take part in the lottery that would decide who the 70 would be and which two would be left out.
Moshe’s dilemma was simple; the math didn’t work. G-d had told him to “gather 70 men from the elders of Israel” (11:16), and with 12 Tribes there could not be the same amount of elders from each Tribe. In order to avoid (or limit) the tension and jealousy that might arise as a result of having two Tribes contribute fewer elders, Moshe used a lottery system. He wrote the word “elder” on 70 (or, according to some, 72) slips of paper (or parchment) and added two blank slips, putting all of the slips into a box. Each perspective elder took a slip out of the box, and “whomever took [a slip that said] “elder” became sanctified (as a member of the Sanhedrin), and whomever took [a slip that was] blank, [Moshe] said to him, ‘G-d does not want you” (Rashi).
If two perspective elders took blank slips (implied by Rashi, and explicit in the Yerushalmi, Sanhedrin 1:4), and Eldud and Meidud didn’t take any slips, then there were only 68 finalists who got a slip that said “elder” on it. Yet, Moshe gathered 70 elders and had them stand around the Mishkan (11:24), and they received G-d’s divine spirit through Moshe (11:25). Who were the other two elders? How could there be 70 if only 68 qualified? Did the Sanhedrin end up with two members whom G-d really didn’t want?
The Mizrachi and the Or Hachayim suggest that according to one opinion in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 17a) Eldud and Meidud were actually the two that didn’t qualify. Nevertheless, because they stayed back on their own, they were rewarded with an even higher level of prophecy than the 70 elders. If so, then the other 70 of the original 72 were the ones “chosen by G-d” to become members of the Sanhedrin. However, even they acknowledge that according to the other opinion in the Talmud, Eldud and Meidud were originally supposed to be in the Sanhedrin; if they backed out, we are still left with two “unwanted” members. The Bechor Shor understands that (first) opinion to be saying that Eldud and Meidud were supposed to be part of the Sanhedrin, but explains the second opinion to be that, in order to avoid anyone being embarrassed, they backed out before the lottery even took place. If there never was a lottery, then none of the 72 “finalists” were ever told that they were “unwanted.” However, this is inconsistent with how most understand that opinion, and the issue of having two “unwanted” members of Sanhedrin must still be addressed according to the first opinion. Besides, according to Rashi, both opinions in the Talmud have Eldud and Meidud as qualifying for the Sanhedrin; the only difference between them is whether they stayed back out of humility or out of fear of being embarrassed (see Maharsha).
The Yalkut Shimoni (736), quoting a “lost” Midrash (known as “Midrash Esfa” because it is discussing the verse where Moshe is told to “gather” the elders), provides the names of the 70 elders. Actually, there are two versions quoted, with many names overlapping and others unique to each version. In the second version, Eldud and Meidud are listed as being part of the new Sanhedrin. Rather than having to explain how two that were “unwanted” became part of the Sanhedrin, the question becomes how there were 70 “around the Tent” (11:24) if two of the 70 “remained in the camp.” Numerous reasons are given as to why there were 70 elders (not more or less, see Baal Haturim and Ramban); one reason given (Midrash Hagadol) is based on the perimeter of the Mishkan. The north and south sides of the Mishkan each had 20 beams, and each beam was a cubit and a half wide, so each of those sides had a length of 30 cubits. The western side had eight beams, for a length of 12 cubits, but two of those cubits covered the sides of the western-most beams of the north and south walls, leaving only 10 cubits (internally) on the western side, for a total of 70 cubits (the eastern side didn’t have any beams, just pillars to support the curtain of the doorway). The elders took their respective positions “around the Tent,” each one standing in the cubit they correlated to, but since they were on the outside, they really needed to cover 72 cubits (12, not 10, on the western wall). Midrash Esfa (quoted in Yalkut 737) says that the “Tent [of Meeting]” does not refer to the Mishkan, but to Moshe’s tent, where he still spoke to G-d, which was outside of the nation’s encampment and was also called “the Tent of Meeting” (see Shemos 33:7). [Since we are told explicitly (Shemos 25:22 and Bamidbar 7:89) that G-d spoke to Moshe from the Mishkan, I am assuming that when G-d initiated the conversation, it was from the Mishkan, but when Moshe initiated it, it was in this Tent.] This Tent had the same dimensions as the Mishkan, but without having to compensate for the thickness of any beams, the external perimeter would match the internal one. If Eldud and Meidud “remained in the camp,” the other 70 perspective elders were the ones “outside the camp” standing in their respective cubits around Moshe’s “Tent of Meeting.” If you take a close look at the verse (11:24), it does not say that “the” 70 elders stood around the Tent, but that “70 men, from the elders of the nation” did. The final determination hadn’t been made yet, so all 70 that showed up took their places “around the Tent.” (Had Eldud and Meidud shown up, perhaps they would have combined with the other 72 to represent the 72 cubits of the Mishkan’s external perimeter; even without the thickness of the beams, the space taken up by the bodies of the elders could necessitate 12 on the western side.) The next verse, however (11:25), says that the divine spirit was given to “seven men, the elders,” i.e. the 70 who actually made up the new Sanhedrin. True, only 68 of those “around the Tent” were given that divine spirit; the other two, Eldud and Meidud, the two that had “remained in the camp,” had the divine spirit rest upon them where they were. In the end, though, according to this Midrash, only the 70 “wanted” elders became part of the Sanhedrin.
This only works if Eldud and Meidud were, in fact, part of the Sanhedrin. But they are only included in the second list of names in the Midrash, not the first list (or a third list, in a manuscript in the Vatican quoted as also being part of Midrash Esfa by the Vilna Gaon’s son, R’ Avraham, in “Rav Pe’alim,” pgs. 149-150). Rashi himself (and the opinion in the Talmud he is quoting) would seem to not include Eldud and Meidud in the Sanhedrin, as Yehoshua’s request that Moshe “destroy them” (11:28) is understood as “give them the responsibilities of public service.” Moshe’s response that it would be preferable if the whole nation were prophets seems to indicate that he did not inhibit their prophecy by appointing them to the Sanhedrin, i.e. give them public responsibilities. If Eldud and Meidud should have been on the Sanhedrin but declined, and the two elders that replaced them took a slip without the word “elder” out of the box, necessitating Moshe telling them that G-d didn’t want them, how could two members of Sanhedrin be those that were “unwanted by G-d?”
There is much discussion (e.g. Iyun Yaakov on Sanhedrin 17a) about why Moshe used 72 slips, rather than 12 (since each Tribe would have five “elders,” and the only question was which would have five and which would have six). The very fact that all 72 were put into the same box indicates that all 72 were worthy of being members of the Sanhedrin (not that the first 60 were more worthy than the 12 of whom 10 would make it). We have already discussed how the elders corresponded to the number of cubits of the Mishkan’s perimeter; the 72 pre-qualified elders could be said to correspond to the Mishkan’s outside perimeter. In Meseches Sofrim (2:6), when it lists the amount of lines each “page” in a Torah scroll can have, one of the possibilities is 72, “corresponding to the 72 elders.” Not 70, but 72.We are therefore “forced” to say that when Moshe told them (or would have told them) that they were “unwanted by G-d,” it was in the context of “you’ve already been chosen as one of the 72, and are worthy of being on the Sanhedrin; however, in relation to the other 70 finalists, they are more worthy, and therefore more wanted by G-d.”
Many lessons about leadership can be learned from the appointment of the new Sanhedrin. Included is the necessity of risking being turned down in order to qualify for leadership, as well as taking on the role (when it is given) even when not the first choice.
“And two men remained in the camp; the name of the first was Eldud and the name of the second was Meidud” (Bamidbar 11:26). Rashi, based on Chazal, explains why they “remained in the camp” instead of “going out to the Tent [of Meeting]” (ibid). Moshe had chosen 72 elders, six from each of the 12 Tribes, and had devised a process for deciding which 70 of those 72 elders would make up the newly-forming Sanhedrin. Eldud and Meidud had made the cut to be part of the 72, but due to their humility, didn’t go to the Mishkan to take part in the lottery that would decide who the 70 would be and which two would be left out.
Moshe’s dilemma was simple; the math didn’t work. G-d had told him to “gather 70 men from the elders of Israel” (11:16), and with 12 Tribes there could not be the same amount of elders from each Tribe. In order to avoid (or limit) the tension and jealousy that might arise as a result of having two Tribes contribute fewer elders, Moshe used a lottery system. He wrote the word “elder” on 70 (or, according to some, 72) slips of paper (or parchment) and added two blank slips, putting all of the slips into a box. Each perspective elder took a slip out of the box, and “whomever took [a slip that said] “elder” became sanctified (as a member of the Sanhedrin), and whomever took [a slip that was] blank, [Moshe] said to him, ‘G-d does not want you” (Rashi).
If two perspective elders took blank slips (implied by Rashi, and explicit in the Yerushalmi, Sanhedrin 1:4), and Eldud and Meidud didn’t take any slips, then there were only 68 finalists who got a slip that said “elder” on it. Yet, Moshe gathered 70 elders and had them stand around the Mishkan (11:24), and they received G-d’s divine spirit through Moshe (11:25). Who were the other two elders? How could there be 70 if only 68 qualified? Did the Sanhedrin end up with two members whom G-d really didn’t want?
The Mizrachi and the Or Hachayim suggest that according to one opinion in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 17a) Eldud and Meidud were actually the two that didn’t qualify. Nevertheless, because they stayed back on their own, they were rewarded with an even higher level of prophecy than the 70 elders. If so, then the other 70 of the original 72 were the ones “chosen by G-d” to become members of the Sanhedrin. However, even they acknowledge that according to the other opinion in the Talmud, Eldud and Meidud were originally supposed to be in the Sanhedrin; if they backed out, we are still left with two “unwanted” members. The Bechor Shor understands that (first) opinion to be saying that Eldud and Meidud were supposed to be part of the Sanhedrin, but explains the second opinion to be that, in order to avoid anyone being embarrassed, they backed out before the lottery even took place. If there never was a lottery, then none of the 72 “finalists” were ever told that they were “unwanted.” However, this is inconsistent with how most understand that opinion, and the issue of having two “unwanted” members of Sanhedrin must still be addressed according to the first opinion. Besides, according to Rashi, both opinions in the Talmud have Eldud and Meidud as qualifying for the Sanhedrin; the only difference between them is whether they stayed back out of humility or out of fear of being embarrassed (see Maharsha).
The Yalkut Shimoni (736), quoting a “lost” Midrash (known as “Midrash Esfa” because it is discussing the verse where Moshe is told to “gather” the elders), provides the names of the 70 elders. Actually, there are two versions quoted, with many names overlapping and others unique to each version. In the second version, Eldud and Meidud are listed as being part of the new Sanhedrin. Rather than having to explain how two that were “unwanted” became part of the Sanhedrin, the question becomes how there were 70 “around the Tent” (11:24) if two of the 70 “remained in the camp.” Numerous reasons are given as to why there were 70 elders (not more or less, see Baal Haturim and Ramban); one reason given (Midrash Hagadol) is based on the perimeter of the Mishkan. The north and south sides of the Mishkan each had 20 beams, and each beam was a cubit and a half wide, so each of those sides had a length of 30 cubits. The western side had eight beams, for a length of 12 cubits, but two of those cubits covered the sides of the western-most beams of the north and south walls, leaving only 10 cubits (internally) on the western side, for a total of 70 cubits (the eastern side didn’t have any beams, just pillars to support the curtain of the doorway). The elders took their respective positions “around the Tent,” each one standing in the cubit they correlated to, but since they were on the outside, they really needed to cover 72 cubits (12, not 10, on the western wall). Midrash Esfa (quoted in Yalkut 737) says that the “Tent [of Meeting]” does not refer to the Mishkan, but to Moshe’s tent, where he still spoke to G-d, which was outside of the nation’s encampment and was also called “the Tent of Meeting” (see Shemos 33:7). [Since we are told explicitly (Shemos 25:22 and Bamidbar 7:89) that G-d spoke to Moshe from the Mishkan, I am assuming that when G-d initiated the conversation, it was from the Mishkan, but when Moshe initiated it, it was in this Tent.] This Tent had the same dimensions as the Mishkan, but without having to compensate for the thickness of any beams, the external perimeter would match the internal one. If Eldud and Meidud “remained in the camp,” the other 70 perspective elders were the ones “outside the camp” standing in their respective cubits around Moshe’s “Tent of Meeting.” If you take a close look at the verse (11:24), it does not say that “the” 70 elders stood around the Tent, but that “70 men, from the elders of the nation” did. The final determination hadn’t been made yet, so all 70 that showed up took their places “around the Tent.” (Had Eldud and Meidud shown up, perhaps they would have combined with the other 72 to represent the 72 cubits of the Mishkan’s external perimeter; even without the thickness of the beams, the space taken up by the bodies of the elders could necessitate 12 on the western side.) The next verse, however (11:25), says that the divine spirit was given to “seven men, the elders,” i.e. the 70 who actually made up the new Sanhedrin. True, only 68 of those “around the Tent” were given that divine spirit; the other two, Eldud and Meidud, the two that had “remained in the camp,” had the divine spirit rest upon them where they were. In the end, though, according to this Midrash, only the 70 “wanted” elders became part of the Sanhedrin.
This only works if Eldud and Meidud were, in fact, part of the Sanhedrin. But they are only included in the second list of names in the Midrash, not the first list (or a third list, in a manuscript in the Vatican quoted as also being part of Midrash Esfa by the Vilna Gaon’s son, R’ Avraham, in “Rav Pe’alim,” pgs. 149-150). Rashi himself (and the opinion in the Talmud he is quoting) would seem to not include Eldud and Meidud in the Sanhedrin, as Yehoshua’s request that Moshe “destroy them” (11:28) is understood as “give them the responsibilities of public service.” Moshe’s response that it would be preferable if the whole nation were prophets seems to indicate that he did not inhibit their prophecy by appointing them to the Sanhedrin, i.e. give them public responsibilities. If Eldud and Meidud should have been on the Sanhedrin but declined, and the two elders that replaced them took a slip without the word “elder” out of the box, necessitating Moshe telling them that G-d didn’t want them, how could two members of Sanhedrin be those that were “unwanted by G-d?”
There is much discussion (e.g. Iyun Yaakov on Sanhedrin 17a) about why Moshe used 72 slips, rather than 12 (since each Tribe would have five “elders,” and the only question was which would have five and which would have six). The very fact that all 72 were put into the same box indicates that all 72 were worthy of being members of the Sanhedrin (not that the first 60 were more worthy than the 12 of whom 10 would make it). We have already discussed how the elders corresponded to the number of cubits of the Mishkan’s perimeter; the 72 pre-qualified elders could be said to correspond to the Mishkan’s outside perimeter. In Meseches Sofrim (2:6), when it lists the amount of lines each “page” in a Torah scroll can have, one of the possibilities is 72, “corresponding to the 72 elders.” Not 70, but 72.We are therefore “forced” to say that when Moshe told them (or would have told them) that they were “unwanted by G-d,” it was in the context of “you’ve already been chosen as one of the 72, and are worthy of being on the Sanhedrin; however, in relation to the other 70 finalists, they are more worthy, and therefore more wanted by G-d.”
Many lessons about leadership can be learned from the appointment of the new Sanhedrin. Included is the necessity of risking being turned down in order to qualify for leadership, as well as taking on the role (when it is given) even when not the first choice.
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