 The astronomer Carl Sagan reported that there are more stars in the universe than sands on all the beaches on the Earth.The 20th century Reform Rabbi Gunther Plaut observed that in the people — not Moses, as recorded in and 24–25 — chose the officials who would share the tasks of leadership and dispute resolution.Jeffrey Tigay, Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, however, reasoned that although Moses selected the appointees as recorded in and 24–25, he could not have acted without recommendations by the people, for the officers would have numbered in the thousands (according to the Talmud, 78,600), and Moses could not have known that many qualified people, especially as he had not lived among the Israelites before the Exodus.