במדבר פרק יא
יד לֹא-אוּכַל אָנֹכִּי לְבַדִּי לָשֵאת אֶׁת-כָל-הָעָם הַזֶׁה כִּי כָבֵד מִּמֶׁנִּי :
טו וְאִּם-כָכָה אַתְ -עֹשֶׁה לִּי הָרְ גֵנִּי נָא הָרֹג אִּם-מָצָאתִּי חֵן בְעֵינֶׁיךָ וְאַל -אֶׁרְ אֶׁה בְרָעָתִּי :
טז וַיֹאמֶׁר ה' אֶׁל -משֶׁה אֶׁסְפָה-לִּי שִּבְעִּים אִּיש מִּזִּקְנֵי יִּשְרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָדַעְתָ כִּי-הֵם זִּקְנֵי הָעָם וְשֹטְרָיו וְלָקַחְתָ אֹתָם אֶׁל-אֹהֶׁל מוֹעֵד וְהִּתְיַצְבוּ שָם עִּמָךְ :
Moshe states he is unable to handle leadership by himself. HaShem commands taking of 70 Elders (the initial Sanhedrin). Moshe’s strength failed due to the punishment planned for the Jews (את instead of אתה in verse 15). The 70 Elders that accompanied Moshe partially up Har Sinai, had just died (11,1).
The Yalkut Shimoni #736 gives us the names of the 70 Elders who became prophets.
The Baal HaTurim says that the seventy prophets correspond to the seventy appellations of Hashem. He then lists them, but we find only 66. The Pardes Yosef says that the last four are the 4-letter, 12-letter, 42-letter, and 72-letter names of Hashem.
Beer Sheva learns from here that the Great Sanhedrin is limited to 70 (plus one leader). And even in a case where the court is split in its decision (35 for and 35 against and one does not vote), they do not employ the procedure of adding two more judges.
THE LOTTERY
Sanhedrin 17A:
"Va'Yisha'aru Shnei Anashim ba'Machaneh" - some say that their lottery cards remained in the box.
Hashem told Moshe to gather 70 Zekenim. Moshe considered how to do this:
- If each Shevet would have six, this would be 72, which is too much;
- If each Shevet would have five, this would be only 60;
- If 10 Shevatim would have six and two would have five, there will be envy among them!
Moshe took six Zekenim from each Shevet, and 72 cards. On 70 of them he wrote 'Zaken.' He left two blank. He put the cards in a box; each Zaken took a card. Whoever picked a card saying 'Zaken' would be on the Sanhedrin, and those who picked blank cards would not be in the Sanhedrin. (Eldad and Medad never took their cards.)
Why indeed did Hashem not allow for seventy-two prophets, thus simplifying the procedure and having six prophets from each tribe?
The Moshav Z'keinim answers that we find that Moshe placed the prophets around the "Ohel Moed," (11:24) "Va'yaameid osom svivos hoohel." They were specifically placed there so that they would receive the overflow of the prophecy given to Moshe at the "Ohel Moed." The "Ohel Moed" was a building which was 30 amos long and 10 amos wide. This gives a total outer length of eighty amos. A person takes up an amoh by an amoh floor space (Gemara Sukkah 7b). The front of the Ohel Moed, which was open, was designated only for Moshe. This leaves us with only seventy amos of wall space left, thus necessitating the limitation of having only seventy prophets.
Why did Moshe select from 12 tribes and not from 13 (including Levi, Ephraim and Menasheh)?
Tosfos Chamei Englei answers that the tribe of Levi was not included since they were charged with avodah and song in the Mishkan. Sanhendri Ketana says Moshe was commanded to take from former officers (from Egypt) that protected the Jews. The tribe of Levi were not included in the servitude and were not officers there. The Sifrei states that Leviim were included in the Sanhedrin referring to the inclusion of Moshe. Iyun Yaacov answers that only six were chosen from the tribes of Yosef (perhaps that Menasheh and Ephraim were only considered as two tribes for inheritance).
How many lottery cards were placed in the box?
In the Yerushalmi, in order to avoid discrimination between the 72 candidates, Moshe placed 72 cards with the name “zakein” and two that were blank. Thus, all 72 had a chance to select one type or the other. And this was one of the miracles that the two blanks ones would actually be drawn (and not end up with 71 or 72 selected).
The Medrash Tanchuma says slightly differently. Moshe placed 70 (or 72) cards with the name “zakein” and 70 (or 72) cards that were blank. Thus, when 70 selected “zakein” it was evident that the selection was from Heaven.
Radbaz asks that Moshe was attempting to avoid jealousy among the tribes in the selection process, how did he avoid the lower probability factor in the tribes that selected earlier? Perhaps Moshe used two boxes, one for the cards with “zekein” and smooth, and the second box contained the names of the candidates (similar to the future lottery for the division of Eretz Yisrael). Or, perhaps Moshe used one large box in which all placed their hand into the box and selected at the same time.
Why wasn’t the lottery done with 12 lottery cards (one for each tribe) with 10 written “six” and two written “five”?
Meiri: If done by tribe then two tribes would receive the “insult” of a lesser selection instead of just two individuals.
Chidushei haRan: Moshe avoided disagreement between the tribes by first selecting equally six potential candidates from each tribe.
Maharsha: If did a lottery by tribe, then would need a second lottery for selection within each tribe.
Iyun Yaacov: If lottery by tribe then would make the selection minimum of 5 for two tribes. But with the selection among 72 candidates, then a possibility exists of selection with one tribe with 4 and 11 tribes with six. (Yalkut says that only four were selected from Levi)
Maskil LeDovid: Moshe desired that each individual Zakein should be selected by the lottery method (selected by HaShem).
Ben Yehoyada: The lottery system actually is not a system of reason. However, like the lottery on Yom Kippur, those that witness agree with the selection after it is done. When Jews make a positive decision in this world in the service of HaShem, this awakens a corresponding Will of HaShem. Thus, as Moshe selected and accepted the 70 Elders, the Will of HaShem completed the process by drawing down a spirit to each Elder.
