A wealthy man took a son-in-law for his daughter and obligated himself to give him kest – to support him for many years, but he had one condition: The chassan must make his seat in shul with the older men and not with the young men. When the listeners heard this strange condition, they wondered, is this the condition of the wealthy man? Why was it so important for him to have the chassan sit specifically with the older men and not with the younger ones who were his age? When they asked the father-in-law about this, he replied, “I know that the young ones have dreams, their heads are always busy calculating how to become rich or how to succeed, but the older men have minds that are already settled, they are also more settled with their thoughts, and so I want my son-in-law to be to specifically sit with them.”
Eldad and Meidad prophesied in the camp (11:27), what did they prophesy? Rashi says, ‘They were prophesying that Moshe would die, and Yehoshua would bring Israel into the Land. When Yehoshua heard this he said (11:28), 'אדני משה כלאם' – ‘My lord Moshe, make an end of them’, and Rashi explains, ‘Give them the responsibility to take care of the needs of the community, and they will be obliterated by themselves. Alternatively, put them into prison.’ The Kli Yakar writes, ‘Yehoshua – because he was young, he was jealous, as it says, “Yehoshua bin Nun, the attendant of Moshe since his youth, spoke up”, he said this because he was young. Had he been old, on in years, he would not have been so strict to control two evil men as one. This is why they said, “The face of Moshe is like the face of the sun and Yehoshua is like the moon. Just as it complained about the sun and said it is impossible for two kings to wear one crown, so Yehoshua complained and said Eldad and Meidad were prophesying. But Moshe was like the sun and did not complain at all, he said, 'מי יתן כל עם ה' נביאים' – ‘Would that the entire people of Hashem could be prophets.’’
We have no understanding whatsoever of the greatness of Yehoshua bin Nun, but the Torah is teaching us here the ways of life. Everyone when they are young has ‘hot blood’ which can ignite jealousy even for the word of Hashem or jealousy for the honor of his Rav, then how do we know if we are really acting properly or not? The answer is, by seeking advice from elders. Many times, specifically what we think is ayom v’norah – terrible – the elders tell us just the opposite. Yehoshua said, ‘Make an end of them’, and Moshe Rabeinu said, ‘Would that the entire people of Hashem could be prophets.’
-Tiv HaTorah – Beha’aloscha
