It's like a secret code, hinting at deeper meanings. Take this verse from (Numbers 11:16): "Gather to Me seventy men [ish]..." Why ish, and not the more common Hebrew word for men, anashim?
According to Bamidbar Rabbah 15, the rabbis saw significance in this specific word. The text beautifully quotes (Proverbs 22:11), “One who loves, is pure of heart, has grace on his lips; his friend is a king.” The implication here is that ish denotes something special, a certain caliber of person. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) suggests that these seventy men, these seventy ish, are meant to be like God and like Moses. "The Lord is a Man [ish] of war" (Exodus 15:3), and "The man [ish], Moses, was very humble" (Numbers 12:3). This isn't just about gathering any seventy men; it's about finding seventy individuals who embody particular qualities.
But wait, didn't they already have elders? Isn't it written in (Exodus 24:9) that Moses, Aaron, Nadav, Avihu, and seventy elders ascended Mount Sinai? The Midrash anticipates this question. The explanation offered is startling: The original elders were consumed by fire!
This fire, the text explains, was a consequence of the people’s complaining, as described earlier in (Numbers 11:1). "The people were seeking complaints...[a fire of the Lord burned in their midst, and it consumed at the edge of the camp]” (Numbers 11:1). This fire, the Rabbah continues, was like the fire that consumed Nadav and Avihu. Remember them? They were the sons of Aaron who, according to Leviticus 10, offered "alien fire" before the Lord and were consumed.
According to this Midrash, the elders, like Nadav and Avihu, had acted with "inappropriate levity" on Mount Sinai. (Exodus 24:11) tells us, "They beheld God and they ate and they drank." Now, were they really eating and drinking in the presence of God? The Midrash explains this metaphorically. It's like a servant snacking while serving his master – a lack of reverence. They deserved to be punished then, but God, in His grace, waited.
The text continues, weaving together different threads. It connects the burning of the elders to the complaining of the people, the "rabble [vehasafsuf]" who craved meat. The Midrash offers two interpretations of vehasafsuf. One is that these were proselytes, converts who had joined the Israelites when they left Egypt, as mentioned in (Exodus 12:38): "A mixed multitude ascended with them." The other interpretation? Vehasafsuf refers to the Sanhedrin (the supreme rabbinic court) itself! This interpretation is based on the similar language used in (Numbers 11:16), "Gather [esfa] to Me seventy men." The fire, it says, consumed "the edge [biktze] of the camp," which is understood to mean "the thorns [bakotzim] of the camp," referring to these proselytes.
The Midrash then draws support from (Psalms 106:18): "A fire blazed in their assembly [baadatam]." Eda, assembly, is synonymous with Sanhedrin, as shown in (Numbers 15:24) and (Leviticus 4:13). It continues to cite (Psalms 78:31): "The anger of God rose against them. He slew the best among them," which it identifies as the Sanhedrin, and "He struck down the young men of [baḥurei] Israel," which it identifies as elders, referencing (2 Samuel 6:1).
And what about this desire for meat, for basar? Rabbi Shimon offers a striking interpretation. They weren't just craving meat; they were craving "a close relative [she’er basar]." He connects this to (Psalms 78:27), "He rained she’er upon them like dust," and then to (Leviticus 18:6), which forbids incestuous relationships: "Any man shall not approach his close relative [she'er besaro] [to uncover nakedness]." According to Rabbi Shimon, their craving was for forbidden relationships!
This desire, this rebellion, was the last straw. (Numbers 11:10) tells us, "Moses heard the people weeping, according to their families." The verse continues, "the wrath of the Lord was greatly enflamed, and it was bad in the eyes of Moses." Moses, overwhelmed, cries out to God, "Why have you mistreated your servant?" (Numbers 11:11). He feels utterly alone, unable to bear the burden of the people. "I am unable to bear [this entire people] alone…And if this is what You do to me, please kill me," (Numbers 11:14–15).
And so, in response to Moses's despair, God commands him to gather seventy new elders, seventy ish, to replace those who had been lost. "Gather to Me seventy men."
This passage from Bamidbar Rabbah is a powerful reminder that leadership is a sacred responsibility. It's not just about holding a position of authority; it's about embodying certain qualities, like humility and reverence. It suggests that even those closest to the Divine can fall from grace and that true leadership requires constant vigilance, both within oneself and within the community. What does it mean for us today to strive to be an ish? What burdens are we being asked to carry, and how can we do so with grace and humility?
“Gather to Me seventy men [ish]” – this is what the verse said: “One who loves, is pure of heart, has grace on his lips; his friend is a king” (Proverbs 22:11). Why did it not say: “Gather to Me seventy men [anashim]”? Rather, it is seventy ish, special people, so that they will be similar to Me and you: “The Lord is a Man [ish] of war” (Exodus 15:3), and Moses, “The man [ish], Moses, was very humble” (Numbers 12:3).
“Gather to Me” – did they not have elders before then? But is it not written at Mount Sinai: “Moses and Aaron, Nadav and Avihu [and seventy of the elders of Israel] ascended” (Exodus 24:9). This portion was after that, and there were elders then. It is, rather, that when Israel encountered these matters: “The people were seeking complaints...[a fire of the Lord burned in their midst, and it consumed at the edge of the camp]” (Numbers 11:1), they were all burned at that time. Their burning was like the burning of Nadav and Avihu, as they, too, conducted themselves with inappropriate levity when they ascended Mount Sinai, when they saw the Divine Presence: “They beheld God and they ate and they drank” (Exodus 24:11). Was there eating and drinking there? To what is the matter comparable? It is to a servant who was serving his master with his food in his hand and he would take bites from it. So, they conducted themselves with inappropriate levity, as though they were eating and drinking. The elders and Nadav and Avihu were deserving of being burned at that moment, but because the day of the giving of the Torah was very dear before the Holy One blessed be He, therefore He did not want to strike them on that day and cause a breach through them. That is what is written: “He did not extend his hand against the noblemen of the children of Israel” (Exodus 24:11); by inference, they were deserving of His hand being extended against them. However, after the passage of time, he collected from them. Nadav and Avihu, too, were burned when they entered the Tent of Meeting, and they23The complainers mentioned in Numbers 11:1–3, who the midrash goes on to describe. were burned when they expressed that craving, as it is stated: “The rabble [vehasafsuf] that was among them expressed a craving” (Numbers 11:4). What is “vehasafsuf”? Rabbi Shimon bar Abba and Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya, one of them says: These are the proselytes who ascended with them from Egypt and were appended to them, as it is stated: “A mixed multitude ascended with them” (Exodus 12:38). And one of them says: Vehasafsuf, these are the Sanhedrin, as it is stated: “Gather [esfa] to Me seventy men.” What is written there? “The fire of the Lord burned in their midst and consumed the edge [biktze] of the camp” (Numbers 11:1); the thorns [bakotzim] of the camp.24This is in accordance with the interpretation that vehasafsuf is referring to the proselytes who came with them. From where is it derived that those elders who climbed Mount Sinai were burned? It is as it is stated: “A fire blazed in their assembly [baadatam]” (Psalms 106:18), and eda is nothing other than the Sanhedrin, as it is stated: “It will be, if from the eyes of the assembly [adat] it was performed” (Numbers 15:24), and it is written: “If the entire assembly [adat] of Israel will err unwittingly” (Leviticus 4:13). Likewise it says: “The anger of God rose against them. He slew the best among them” (Psalms 78:31), these are the Sanhedrin. “He struck down the young men of [baḥurei] Israel” (Psalms 78:31), those baḥurim who were called elders, in whose regard it is written: “David again gathered all the chosen of [baḥurei] Israel” (II Samuel 6:1).25See Bemidbar Rabba 4:20, where this verse is interpreted as referring to elders. When they again wept and requested flesh [basar], if we say it was the flesh of an undomesticated animal, everything that they requested, the manna was transformed for them in their mouth, as it is stated: “He granted them their request” (Psalms 106:15), “and their craving would be provided them” (Psalms 78:29). If we say that they did not have flocks and cattle, is it not already stated: “A mixed multitude ascended with them, and flocks and cattle” (Exodus 12:38). If we say that they consumed them in the wilderness, is it not written: “The children of Reuben…had abundant livestock” (Numbers 32:1). From here Rabbi Shimon said: They did not desire flesh, but they desired a close relative [she’er basar], as it is stated: “He rained she’er upon them like dust” (Psalms 78:27), and she’er is nothing other than prohibited relations, as it is stated: “Any man shall not approach his close relative [she'er besaro] [to uncover nakedness]” (Leviticus 18:6). That is that which they requested: To permit for them prohibited relations. Likewise it says: “Moses heard the people weeping, according to their families” (Numbers 11:10). When they requested that, “the wrath of the Lord was greatly enflamed, and it was bad in the eyes of Moses” (Numbers 11:10). At that moment, Moses said to the Holy One blessed be He: “Why have you mistreated your servant?” (Numbers 11:11). In the past, there was someone with me to bear their burden, but now I am alone, as it is stated: “I am unable to bear [this entire people] alone…And if this is what You do to me, please kill me,” (Numbers 11:14–15). At that moment, the Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘In place of those elders, appoint other elders to replace them,’ as it is stated: “Gather to Me seventy men.”
