Silence is golden
Other posts on Bamidbar:
United we stand, divided we fall!
What about me?
לְגָד אֶלְיָסָף בֶּן דְּעוּאֵל – For Gad, Eliasaph the son of De’uel. (1:14)
וּמַטֵּה גָּד וְנָשִׂיא לִבְנֵי גָד אֶלְיָסָף בֶּן רְעוּאֵל - The tribe of Gad – The prince of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Re’uel. (2:14)
The question is clear: Why the change from D to R?
(It is important to note that the names of the Nesi’im are not listed for historicity – all are written for deep rooted reasons – what follows is just one.)
The Chida explains that the tribe of Gad merited Moshe Rabeinu being buried in their portion, as they kept silent in the face of Reuven’s instructions. Reuven and Gad were encamped next to each other, and Reuven was “Rosh HaDegel”, whereby they led all camp movements. Reuven was a firstborn (Leah), as was Dan (Bilhah), and both tribes were “Rosh HaDegel”, whereas Gad, who was also a firstborn (Zilpah) was not. The tribe of Gad did not protest to Moshe that they weren’t given this privilege, and as such had the merit of the holiest leader in history buried in their portion.
This midda (character trait) is characterised the saying of Rabban Shimon Ben Gamliel in Pirkei Avos (1:17): לא מצאתי לגוף טוב אלא שתיקה – I’ve not found anything better for the body than silence. Their doing what was asked of them matched Moshe’s characteristic of being an ish Elokim – and he is called ריע א-ל – friend of G-d – and this is exactly what the name of the ancestor of the Nasi of Gad is רְעוּאֵל, and it was therefore fitting that his resting place would be in the portion of Gad.
To illustrate this trait of being silence despite it not being your best interests, there is a story told about the Sdei Chemed (biography here), who as a young man was already known for his devotion and intelligence, when he was still in Kollel. There were two young men who attempted to get into the Kollel, and were rejected. Feeling bitter, one of them hatched a plan to get back at the Kollel, by disgracing it’s star student, the Sdei Chemed. Knowing the Sdei Chemed was there at sunrise every morning, and that the Beis Midrash was prepared every morning my the cleaner, a local villager, this man approached her and asked her to report that the Sdei Chemed had molested her one morning. She flatly refused, insisting that she would lose her job, and thus her income. The man said he would support her and she needn’t worry.
Word got out that the Sdei Chemed had “molested” this woman, and there was an uproar in the town, but the Rosh Yeshiva refused to believe this woman, who lost her job, and refused to expel the Sdei Chemed, and refused to hear about the matter further. Shortly afterwards, the man who had bribed the woman passed away. The woman saw the young man had gotten his come-uppance, and he had died owing her the money. Tearful, she approached the Sdei Chemed on his way home and begged his forgiveness, told him what had happened, and asked that he help go to the Rosh Yeshivah and try to get her old job back. The Sdei Chemed accepted her apology on the spot, and “I have no problem helping you get your old job back, I’ll sort that out. But I forbid you from disgracing the memory of the dead man by mentioning his involvement!”