Hello,
At the end of the 1st perek of Sanhedrin, regarding the number of judges in the midbar, the Masores Hashas brings a girsa that we learn from the Gemoro that the dayanim were included in the numbers, which I take to mean the "sar asoros" was one of the 10, the "sar chamishim" was one of the 50, etc.
Would it be correct to say that Tosfos did not learn completely like this, because Tosfos has kashes on the calculations of the gemoro. Tosfos accepts that the "sar asoros" was one of the 10, but for the higher levels he doesn't suggest that, but either the higher levels were over age 60 (first teretz) or were a selection of the sarei asoros. (If so, why did Tosfos not learn this for all levels?)
Kol Tuv
Meir Eliezer Bergman
Manchester UK
Yes, as you say, Tosfos does not learn completely like the Girsa in the Masores ha'Shas. See Maharal in Gur Aryeh to Shemos 18:21, who asks your question about why Tosfos did not learn for all levels like he learned for the Sarei Asaros. (The Maharal mentions a Sevara that it is unlikely that there were 60,000 people, which is the number of Sarei Asaros, over the age of 60 who possessed the very exacting qualities required by a Dayan.)
See also Chidushei Rabeinu Yonah here.
This important question needs further study.
I heard a simple explanation for why Tosfos learned that the Sarei Asaros were part of the 10 but did not learn that the Sarei Chamishim were part of the 50, etc.
This is because if we say that we count 9 ordinary individuals and then number 10 is a Sar Asaros, then we count another 9 and number 20 is also a Sar Asaros. We then continue this way until we reach number 50, who is also a Aar Asaros. However, if we would say that the Sar Chamishim is one of the 50, this would mean that the Sar Chamishim would have to be a lower number than 50.
Now, it is reasonable to assume that the Sar Chamishim is a higher calibre of judge than the Sarei Asaros, since he is responsible for a larger amount of people. But if we say that the Sarei Chamishim are included in the 50, we have the rather strange situation wherein the Sar Chamishim is under the Sarei Asaros, since the last Sar Asaros is number 50, so the Sar Chamishim must be less than number 50.
This is why Tosfos wrote that only the Sarei Asaros are "Milegav" (inclusive), and not the higher levels.
Kol Tuv,
Dovid Bloom