Don't Ignore the Minor Characters

Rabbi Melanie Aron

June 5, 2004

I went into San Francisco two weeks ago to hear the famous Israeli Bible scholar Aviva Zornberg. You may have seen her a number of years ago on PBS when they did a program on Genesis with Burt Visotzky. In her talk she stressed paying attention to the small details in the Biblical narrative. One of the things she said that stuck with me was, “pay attention to the minor characters, they are there for a reason and hint at greater themes”.

One of the examples she gave was from the well known Joseph stories. You may remember that towards the beginning of Parashat Vayeshev, Joseph is sent by his father to see how his brothers, who are out shepherding the flocks, are doing. When he gets to the place his father sent him, they aren’t there and he is about to head home, unsuccessful in his mission, when he runs into a stranger.

“What are you looking for?” asked the stranger. “I am looking for my brothers,” replied Joseph. “Perhaps you can tell me where they are tending the sheep?” “They already left this area, “said the man. “I heard them planning to go to Dothan.” Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

What if Joseph hadn’t met this man? What if he hadn’t found his brothers? There would have been no pit and no Ishmaelites, no Joseph advising the Pharaoh and no Egyptian servitude, no redemption from Egypt, and no standing at the foot of Mt Sinai. Put in that light, this unnamed stranger is a pretty important guide.

But really it’s more than that. It’s not just that this stranger moves the plot forward; it’s that he is the first hint that things are different in this Joseph story than they were in the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If Abraham had gone in the wrong direction, what would have happened? He and God would have had a chat. God would have acted directly. But from the Joseph story we are going to learn something different about God’s action in the world. We are going to learn that we need to recognize that God is there, even when God’s activity is not apparent, and the first hind of that is this random seeming stranger.

Armed with Dr. Zornberg’s advice, I took another look at the minor characters in the Torah portion this morning. Eldad and Medad appear in the story of the 70 elders in Bahalotecha and no where else in the Bible. As you recall, Moses despairs because of the people’s constant complaining. He tells God that he just can’t take it any longer and God tells him to gather 70 elders who will help him lead the people. These 70 men gather in the Tent of Meeting and share in God’s spirit, but we are told, it doesn’t continue. Meanwhile, outside the tent, back in the camp, two men are prophesizing to the people. Joshua is very concerned that they are challenging Moses’s authority, but Moses declares:”Would that all God’s people were prophets.”

Now if you are math minded you may have already seen the problem which bothered the Biblical commentators. There are 12 tribes, but Moses was told to bring 70 elders. 5 times 12 is only 60, 6 times 12 is 72. How did Moses choose 70 elders without slighting two of the tribes? They imagine that Moses asked each tribe to send 6 leaders. Then he had them each pick a stick, 70 of the sticks said come to the tent of meeting, and two of them said, return to the camp. Eldad and Medad, according to the rabbis, were the two guys who should have been in the tent and that is why they had this special gift.

Now that’s kind of interesting, but what are we to learn from all this? I like a different explanation a little better. Perhaps these minor characters are hinting at something else. Perhaps they are reminder that in Judaism it’s not just the leader’s voice that counts. Everyone has something individual and important to say. The ideal is not to have one Moses; the ideal is to have the entire community engaged in the prophetic quest.

Juliana and Taylor, one of the things I particularly enjoyed about working with you is that you each had a voice. You had something you wanted to teach us. I am glad that we were able to hear your voices today and I look forward to continuing to hear your voices within our community in the years to come.