The Eldad and Meidad Story

Parshat B'haalotkha

by Rabbi Avi Billet

While Chapter 11 in the book of Bamidbar bears little resemblance to the famous reorganization process of the Bankruptcy Code, it does have a series of setbacks that seem to put the people in a negative light: disobedience, complaining, people getting punished by fire, or their bodies suffer the effects of too much quail.

Towards the end of the chapter there is a tale concerning two men, Eldad and Meidad, and their prophesying in the camp. Were they good or bad? Is this a positive story,or does it follow the theme of the rest of the chapter – which is largely negative?

The Gemara Sanhedrin (17a) describes a dilemma Moshe faced. He had to gather 70 elders from 12 tribes. Were he to take 5 elders from each tribe, he'd only have 60 elders. 6 elders from each tribe would result in having two extra elders. To resolve the dilemma – because he did not want to favor any specific tribe or to make such unfair decisions – he created a lottery of sorts, in which he prepared 72 pieces of paper for the 6 representatives per tribe. Each picked one – 70 had the word "Zaken" indicating that its recipient was chosen, and 2 of them were blank – freeing their recipients of any responsibility. Eldad and Meidad (E&M) received the blank sheets.

The gemara goes on to describe their humility. While others were clamoring to be the elders, E&M saw themselves as unworthy to be the elders. As a result, God rewarded them with greatness. While other prophets prophesied and their careers ended, E&M's prophesies did not end.

The Medrash Tanchuma (22) lists four additional differences: The elders could only prophesy about the coming day, while E&M prophesied about what would take place in 40 years. The elders did not enter the land, while E&M merited to enter the land (following the opinion that Eldad was Elidad ben Kislon of 34:21, while Meidad was K'muel ben Shiftan of 34:24). The elders were not named, and we have no record of their identities, while E&M are obviously named. The elders had their prophesy come from Moshe, while the prophesy of E&M came directly from God.

There are three opinions in the Talmud as what they prophesied: that Moshe will die and Yehoshua will lead the people into the land, regarding the quail, or regarding the end of days with Gog U'Magog.

All of this information seems positive. Moshe seems not only unperturbed, but, as the Daat Mikra chumash explains it, he is welcoming of any higher stature any Israelite might achieve. So why is the incident included in this seemingly negative chapter and paragraph? Because there are major downsides to the story.

The Midrash (Tanchuma and others) paints a picture of how happy people were when E&M were prophesying, going so far to say "Praised are their children and wives, that they have become prophets!" Miriam overheard Moshe's former wife, Tzipporah, say, "Praised are their sons but woe is to their wives because they will never see their husbands again. They will leave their wives just as my husband left me."

Misunderstanding Moshe's unique status – including the instruction God gave him when the nation were told to return to their spouses after Revelation (Devarim 5:26) while Moshe was told to remain with God (5:27) – Miriam proceeded to speak ill of Moshe to Aharon (the final story in our parsha). The E&M story thus became a source for lashon hara.

While there are two approaches to understanding if Eldad and Meidad were part of the 70 elders or were the two extras as described above, there are also two approaches to why they remained in the camp and did not go out to the Ohel Moed. One approach suggests they were quite humble. The other approach – as forwarded by the Or haChaim – suggests they were ashamed and disgraced on account of being the only two people "rejected" from becoming elders. God rewarded them with prophesy so they would nevertheless become men of stature.

According to the Sifrei, Yehoshua's response to their prophesying can either mean "Destroy them" or "Imprison them" – either interpretation likely follows the approach that they were prophesying about Moshe's death and Yehoshua's succession. And while the Midrash tells us Yehoshua's defense of his teacher is a lesson in how one should revere one's teacher as one reveres heaven, the Talmud (Eruvin 63a) is of the opinion that Yehoshua's zealousness in this regard – speaking out of turn in the presence of Moshe, who was not offended by E&M – caused him to be punished. He never had children.

Lashon Hara, embarrassment, and overzealousness are certainly negative outcomes of this story.

The lesson I take from this tale is from the response of Moshe. Go with the flow, be happy for others in their success, and don't pay any attention to hoi polloi who comment without seeing the full picture. Know who you are and respect others, and you will only be the better person because of it.