Parsha: Nasso (2014)
By: Joel Ackerman
A Human Miracle?
The Torah is replete with miracles
performed by G-d for the Israelites – both while in the desert (Bamidbar) and
in Israel. This parasha describes an
event that could be considered a miracle performed by humans – the leaders (“princes”)
of the Israelite tribes.
Imagine this scene. You visit a synagogue in which you have never
been before. In general the synagogue
looks much the same as others you know.
There is a beautifully designed aron (ark) that contains Torahs wrapped
in fine velvet mantles. The curtain in
front of the ark and coverings for the reading tables are similarly of fine
velvet. In the walls are beautiful
windows. Everything looks and feels
familiar, but something seems a bit odd – a little off.
After a while, it occurs to you what seems strange. There are no decorations on the Torah
mantles or other velvet materials. And
none is inscribed with the name of a donor or a person in whose honor or memory
the item was donated. The same is true
of the windows. There are no plaques on
the walls noting any donation. Just to
be sure, you check the siddurim around you.
There are no faceplates with names of donors or honorees.
You feel that this congregation must
be composed of amazing individuals. No one
seems to have needed to see his or her name prominently displayed. They must all have been able to subsume their
egos to support a common purpose – hiddur
mitzvah for the synagogue. A
human-performed miracle?
This week’s parasha describes what
seems to be a similar “miracle” - the presentation of gifts by the nasiim (“princes”) of the tribes at the
dedication of the mishkan. First they jointly present the mundane gifts
of oxen and wagons to carry the parts of the mishkan. Then, each nasi has the opportunity to present his
individual gifts – one on each of twelve consecutive days.
The twelve nasiim presented identical gifts – a silver bowl weighing 130
shekels, a silver basin weighing 70 shekels, both filled with a meal-offering,
a gold ladle weighing ten shekels filed with incense, and specified numbers of
animals for sacrifices. According to
the Midrash the bowls, basins and ladles weighed exactly the same, so that if
all were melted down the resulting amount of silver or gold metal would be exactly
twelve times the weight of one item.
And, in addition, one might have expected that the princes would have
decorated their items differently or inscribed their names or the names of
their tribes on these items. But no –
again, the Midrash teaches that all the bowls, all the basins and all the
ladles were exactly alike. And this was
no accident – it was done intentionally, by agreement of the nasiim.
The Midrash credits this
accomplishment to Netanel ben Tzuar, nasi
of the tribe of Issachar, who was scheduled to present his gift on the second
day. According to the story, he saw the
gift planned by the first to present (Nachshon ben Amminadav of Judah) and
decided to present an identical gift so as not to upstage his predecessor, and
not to start a cascade of ever-increasing gifts, with the last nasi feeling it would be necessary to
bring the most elaborate, most expensive, gift.
Rav Yissocher Frand explains it
thusly:
“He reasoned as follows: We know our own nature. Everyone will argue that his offering was
better. This will lead to lashon hara and hatred and
jealously. We know our nature. So he did a tremendous thing. He brought – exactly – the same offering. He set the tone – everyone is the same.”
Now, knowing human nature, it seems
reasonable that this was not all that Netanel ben Tzuar did to maintain peace
among the tribes. It seems to me that
it would not have been enough for him to have decided to bring exactly the same
gift as Nachshon. He probably still
would have had to convince ten other nasiim to go along, and to agree on what
the gifts would be; ten other leaders with their own personalities, their own
egos and their own ideas about gift-giving.
And perhaps Moses had to be involved in these discussions. Because Moses and the Kohanim would have to
agree that they could use twelve of each item.
Otherwise they would have to accept gifts that were superfluous - with a
straight face – and then figure out what they were going to do with them.
And so the mishkan was constructed and equipped by the community, in a totally
community-focused way. The mishkan itself was made from raw
materials donated by the overall community – wood, metal, fabrics, wool, skins,
etc., that were made into the necessary objects by Bezalel and Oholiav and
their many helpers. Any object was made
from materials donated by many individuals – no one could point to anything and
say “This was made from materials given by me.” And a Kohen or Levite using one of the
bowls, basins or ladles would have no idea which prince, which tribe, had
contributed it.
Such an overall sublimation of egos
- a miracle performed by humans? Feel
free to decide.
