Sixth Reading: Torah and Science, Eldad and Meidad
“The young man ran out and told Moses, saying, “Eldad and Meidad are prophesizing in the camp!”” (Numbers 11:27)
Our reading recounts that Moses gathered seventy wise men around the Tent of Meeting, endowed them with his spirit, and they began to prophesy. Yet, two men named Eldad and Meidad, who were not among the seventy and did not gather around the tent, suddenly began to prophesy as well:
Two of the participants, one named Eldad and the other Meidad, had remained in camp; yet the spirit rested upon them—they were among those recorded, but they had not gone out to the Tent—and they spoke from prophecy in the camp.
The young man ran out and told Moses, saying, “Eldad and Meidad are prophesizing in the camp!”
And Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ attendant from his youth, spoke up and said, “My lord Moses, restrain them!”
But Moses said to him, “Are you wrought up on my account? Would that all of God’s people were prophets, that God put spirit upon them!”
The Story of Eldad and Meidad
What is going on? The sages relate that Moses had a problem: he had to choose seventy elders from twelve tribes, but the number 70 does not divide evenly by 12. Therefore, Moses asked each tribe to appoint six distinguished elders, except for two tribes that would appoint only five, thus bringing the total count to seventy-two. Since no tribe was willing to appoint only five, Moses told them all to appoint six, and he conducted a lottery: on seventy slips he wrote "Elder" and left two slips blank. Eldad and Meidad were among those who drew a slip with "Elder" on it (this is the meaning of the phrase "and they were among those written"), indicating that they were divinely chosen to be among the seventy. However, they ultimately chose to forgo the honor, saying, "We are not worthy of this greatness," and in their place, the two elders who drew the blank slips were appointed.
Another detail provided by the Midrash is that Eldad and Meidad were none other than the brothers of Moses, sons of Yocheved from her second husband.
Now, because they were not only initially worthy of prophecy but also endowed with extraordinary humility, despite forgoing the honor of being among the seventy elders, the spirit of prophecy rested upon Eldad and Meidad. Moreover, their prophecy was unique and superior to that which rested upon the elders: Eldad and Meidad prophesied "in the camp," meaning in the public spaces and among the people, not in the sacred Tent of Meeting. Their prophecy was one that does not pass through the 'official' channel of the central Tent of Meeting but rather emerges on the periphery, among the simple people.
Additionally, their prophecy concerned the entry into the Land of Israel and the fate of Moses and Joshua: "Moses will die, and Joshua will bring Israel into the Land."
Initially, this prophecy seems to threaten the existing order of authority, so Joshua seeks to imprison these 'rebellious' prophets. But Moses stops him, saying, "Are you zealous for my sake? Would it be that all of God’s people were prophets, that God would put His spirit upon them!" Indeed, while the prophecy of the elders is described in the past tense, "and they prophesied," it is said of Eldad and Meidad that they are "prophesizing," from which the Talmud learns that they "continue to prophesy forever"—their prophecy is eternal.
The Inside Story
According to Kabbalah, while the seventy elders represent the 'mind' or the 'heart' of the Torah, hidden within, Eldad (אלדד) and Meidad (מידד), as their names suggest (both names end with a suffix דד), represent the Torah’s two 'breasts' (דדים ) that convey abundance from the interior to the exterior (as hinted in the verse, "A lovely deer, a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times").
Eldad and Meidad are usually mentioned together, and no distinction is noted between them. The Talmud even states that they prophesied "the same prophecy in one simultaneously." However, the analogy to breasts reveals a difference: Eldad is identified with the right breast, representing the descent of abundance from above to below, while Meidad is identified with the left breast, representing the ascent of abundance from below to above. Although their prophecy is one, it draws from two opposite sources: Eldad brings down prophecies from the Heavens, while Meidad draws them from the mundane.
These two movements—from above to below and from below to above—precisely parallel the movements of the upper and lower waters, which serve as the Torah’s basic model for the original division between Divine wisdom and mundane wisdom. The higher waters that are above the firmament, created on the second day of Creation, draw abundance down, while the lower waters that lie beneath the firmament elevate the mundane knowledge collected by mankind from Nature. Thus, Eldad and Meidad can be seen as embodying, respectively, Torah (from above to below) and science (from below to above) when they operate in harmony and unity. Eldad brings the wisdom of God, the Torah, below, and Meidad brings the wisdom of science, above.
Interestingly, an ancient Jewish custom suggests beginning nursing on the left side, another hint that when Torah and science are to be unified, science comes first in the order of consideration.
Conclusions Regarding Unifying Torah and Science
This interpretation of the account regarding Eldad and Meidad sheds new light on the vision of uniting Torah and science. First, it teaches us that this endeavor does not begin in the "Tent of Meeting," referring to the traditional yeshivah world, which serves as the tent of Torah, but rather "in the camp," outside the yeshivot. On the other hand, it does not emerge from ordinary practical people, referring to the scientists in universities, since Eldad and Meidad were about to be among the seventy elders, meaning the rabbis in a yeshivah.
Rather, the task of unifying Torah and science is the fruit of the thoughts of individuals who are 'outsiders' from both directions, who, due to their interest in science, do not feel entirely at home in the yeshivah, and due to being men and women of Torah, do not feel at home in the university. Eldad and Meidad embody a unique combination of the lowliness and humility of Torah scholars (hinted at by the modesty of the breasts) and the breaking out to prophesy in the camp (like exposing the breast for nursing, implying openness and nurturing).
