Gad is the first son of Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. Leah says a single word, written bagad and read ba gad, "good fortune has come" (Genesis 30:11). The Bnei Yissaschar recalls it: gad means luck, good fortune.
Jacob plays on the name: "Gad, a troop shall raid him, and he shall raid at their heel" (Genesis 49:19). In Hebrew, gad, gedud, yegudenu, yagud: four words of the same root in a single verse.
Moses blesses him at length: "Blessed is He who enlarges Gad; he dwells like a lioness." He adds that Gad "saw the first portion for himself," that he came at the head of the people and that he "carried out the justice of G-d and His judgments with Israel" (Deuteronomy 33:20 and 21).
On the breastplate, according to the Targum attributed to Jonathan, his stone opens the third row: the leshem (Exodus 28:19), often rendered as jacinth; the identification remains uncertain. In the desert Gad encamps to the south, third in Reuben's camp (Numbers 2:14), with Eliasaph as prince. Ramban explains the composition of this camp: Leah's children, together with Gad, the firstborn of her maidservant, "born upon her knees." The Midrash he cites sees in Gad the one who has strength, which echoes the lioness of Moses. According to Rashi, his banner had the color of his stone.
According to the order of the banners, Gad receives Elul, the month of the letter Yod (Sefer Yetzirah 5:2); in the Vilna Gaon's version, Yod rules over action. The Bnei Yissaschar links Elul "to the tribe of Gad." He reads the two letters of the name according to the saying of the Sages, "Gimel Dalet, gomel dalim," the one who does good to the poor: the Gimel gives to the Dalet. In Elul, he writes, we come before G-d "as the poor," without merit or deeds. The attribution of months varies with the order followed, as the introductory entry recalls.
Keep this: Gad's name speaks of fortune, but his blessing speaks of effort, of a troop and of justice carried out. The Bnei Yissaschar adds giving to the poor, at the threshold of the days of repentance.
