Hashem said to Moshe, "Take Yehoshua bin Nun -- he is a man of prophetic spirit -- and rest your hand upon him (i.e., show that he has been chosen to be your successor)... and give unto him some of your glory."

(Bamidbar 27: 18-20)

"Your glory"- this refers to facial radiance (See Shemot 34:34). "Some of your glory"- and not all of it. From this we can learn that Moshe's face shone like the sun, while Yehoshua's shone like the moon.

(Rashi ad. loc.)

The elders of that generation commented, "The face of Moshe shines like the sun while the face of Yehoshua only shines like the moon!" Woe to one who bears such shame; woe to one who bears such humiliation!

(Gemara Bava Batra 75a)

Moshe told Yehoshua, "You will come *with* the Bnai Yisroel into the promised land (Devarim 31:7) - the elders and you will jointly lead the people." Hashem corrected him, insisting that he tell Yehoshua, "You will *bring* the Bnai Yisroel into the land which I have promised (Devarim 31:23) -- take a stick and beat the elders until they follow your orders! There can only be one leader in each generation; there cannot be a joint leadership!"

(Sanhedrin 8a)

In fact, Yehoshua himself expressed this attitude on another occasion. When Moshe appointed the 70 elders to their position of authority, he asked them to join him in front of the Mishkan. There he "kindled their spirits" and caused them to experience prophetic visions. Two others, Eldad and Meidad, prophesied without Moshe's help in the Israelite encampment. When Yehoshua heard of this, he came running frantically to Moshe, calling for Moshe to put and end to the prophecy of Eldad and Meidad (Bamidbar 11:26-9). For Yehoshua, it was unheard of for independant prophets to be declaring the word of Hashem simultaneously ("One leader in each generation"). He therefore took the two self-declared prophets to be phonies.

Moshe, however, saw things differently. His reaction to Yehoshua's frenzy was, "Would that Hashem would make *all* of His people into prophets by resting His spirit upon them!" As far as he was concerned, it was quite feasible for numerous prophets to lead the people jointly. In fact, Hashem explicitly told Moshe to appoint elders "That they may bear the burden of the people *together* with you" (Bamidbar 11:17). This was probably why Moshe originally instructed Yehoshua to lead *with* the elders -- just as Moshe himself had done.

All the other prophets received their prophecy through an angel. This is why they saw what they saw only as a metaphoric vision or a non-explicit statement (that must first be interpreted before it is understood). Moshe, however, did not receive his prophecies through an angel.... He did not see a metaphoric vision, but rather Hashem revealed His word to Moshe clearly.... [Because of his unique closeness to the Divine word,] Moshe's face radiated light and he became as spiritual as the angels.

(Rambam, Yesodei HaTorah 7:6. See also the seventh of the Rambam's 8 Perakim.)

Why is it that a successful leadership normally requires appointing one person as the sole authority? Because each leader has his own distinct personality, and the differences between the personalities of two leaders will inevitably be expressed in their leadership decisions. Even if the leaders based their decisions on divine revelation (as was the case in the times of Yehoshua), they were still liable to have differences of opinion. This is because, as the Rambam told us, a prophet's vision was still open to interpretation. Since the prophet's own input was required, the interpretation of his prophecy was inevitably affected by his own unique personality. This is why we find that "two prophets never prophecy with an identical phraseology" (Sanhedrin 89a). Even two prophets would not be perfectly compatible leaders, since their differing personalities would be reflected in their interpretation of their prophecies. For this reason, a one-person leadership is always advised.

Moshe's leadership, however, was different. He did not merely see a vision; he heard the very words of Hashem. Because of this, he was able to "pass along" the unsullied word of Hashem to others. He kindled the prophetic spirit of the 70 elders "as one candle kindles another" (Bamidbar 11:17, and Rashi ad. loc.). Since Moshe's prophecy was the *source* of the elders' prophecy, the elders would never reach a conclusion that was contrary to Moshe's own conclusion. All of their decisions would necessarily be unanimous.

Similarly, on the occasion that Eldad and Meidad prophesied in the Israelite encampment they received the Divine Word directly from Hashem, Moshe-style. They did not simply see a vision, as did normal prophets. (This is why the two were able to prophecy with an identical phraseology, contrary to the rule cited above.) They, too, would be no threat to Moshe's leadership. Since they saw clearly the will of Hashem, they could only agree to what Moshe, who experienced the exact same prophecy, would decide.

Yehoshua, on the other hand, was like any other prophet. He couldn't "bring down" prophecy for others, he could only receive his own personal prophecy which would be affected by his own personality. Therefore, he would have to lead single-handedly. For the same reason, Yehoshua didn't believe that Eldad and Meidad were true prophets. He assumed that all other prophets were like himself, and could not be granted prophecy independently of Moshe while Moshe was leader.

This explains why Moshe told Yehoshua to lead *with* the elders. Moshe thought that his student Yehoshua would lead in the same manner that he himself did. If so, the elders could lead the generation together with him, just as they did with Moshe. Hashem, however, knew that this wasn't the case. Yehoshua wouldn't be able to "share" his perception with the elders, since he would only perceive a weak reflection of Hashem's word. Hashem therefore told Moshe, "He should take a stick and beat them until they obey!" Yehoshua must lead alone.

It is perhaps for this reason that specifically the *elders* commented on Yehoshua's likeness to the moon. According to what we have described, the analogy between Yehoshua and the moon was evident to no one more than to the elders. It was the elders who would suffer the consequences of Yehoshua's inferiority to Moshe. The elders that led the generation together with Yehoshua's master, Moshe, would not be able to lead together with Yehoshua. This is why it was specifically the *elders* who noted Yehoshua's deficiency and complained about his likeness to the moon!

[Much of this article was inspired by the words of Rav Yonason Eibeshitz in "Ya'arot D'vash" (D'rush #11) and Rav Abish'l Frankfurter in "Birchat Avraham" (to Eruvin 63a).]