Zeal Makes Every Offering New

1“This is the offering of Nachshon son of Aminadav.”¹ Chazal said in the Midrash: “R' Yehudah says: The offering of the princes is as dear to the Holy One, blessed be He, as the song that Israel sang at the sea. In the song that Israel sang at the sea it says, ‘This is my God and I will glorify Him,’ and here it says, ‘This is the offering of Nachshon son of Aminadav.’”² The holy sefarim Yitav Lev, Sfas Emes and Shem MiShmuel raise the question: what connection is there between the Song of the Sea and the offerings of the princes?³

2The Midrash there goes on: “R' Nechemiah said: The offering of the princes is as dear to the Holy One, blessed be He, as the two Tablets of the Covenant. Of the two Tablets of the Covenant it is written, ‘On this side and on that side they were written,’ and here it is written, ‘This is the offering of Nachshon son of Aminadav.’”⁴ Here too we must explain the connection between them.

3I have seen someone explain it this way. He first asks why the Torah repeats the passage of the princes' offerings so many times, writing out every offering of each prince in detail. This seems unnecessary; it would have been enough to write it once, since all twelve brought the same offerings. But the Midrash explains at length that each prince had a different intention in his offerings, one that belonged to his own tribe.⁵ So by repeating all these verses, the Torah teaches us that each person brings a special quality and power of his own to every mitzvah he does, in which he is unlike anyone else.

4That is why Chazal compared the princes' offering to the Song of the Sea, since both use the word zeh, “this.” The word zeh indicates that each person has his own grasp and his own special quality. So it was at the Song of the Sea. As is well known, Bnei Yisrael were then privileged to grasp such lofty things that all of them answered as one and said, “This is my God.” Yet their grasp was not equal; each one grasped according to his own level. That is also why Chazal compared the princes' offerings to the two Tablets of the Covenant, of which zeh is said. The same holds for Torah study: although everyone learns the same Torah of Moshe, each one grasps Hashem's Torah according to his own capacity. That is the gist of his words.

5We can also explain all this another way. First, let us look closely at the Midrash's wording. Why does it quote “This is the offering of Nachshon son of Aminadav”? The same words are said of every one of the princes, so the Midrash could have said that in the princes' offerings “This is the offering” is written of each one. Why did it single out Nachshon's offering? We may say that this very detail makes the comparison to the Song of the Sea clear, in light of a saying of Chazal: “Why was he called Nachshon? Because he went down first into the nachshol, the surging waves of the sea. R' Shimon bar Yochai said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, ‘Whoever sanctified My Name shall offer first.’”⁶ For Nachshon leapt first into the Red Sea with zeal and with mesirus nefesh, the readiness to give one's life. As Chazal say in the Gemara: “Nachshon son of Aminadav leapt and went down into the sea first, and of him it is said, ‘Save me, God, for the waters have come up to the soul …’”⁷ Through him all of Bnei Yisrael were privileged to see the sea split: they saw what he did and did the same.

6The princes' offerings also show the middah of zeal, the character trait that made them hurry to bring their offerings first, of their own accord. As Chazal relate, when the Mishkan was being made, the princes said, “Let the people bring what they will bring, and whatever is lacking, we will fill in.” But within two mornings the community had brought the entire donation, and the princes were distressed, and so on. Once the Mishkan was finished, they were quick to bring an offering first, with zeal, as it is written, “And the princes of Israel offered …” They said, “Now is the time for us to bring offerings in joy, for the Shechinah has rested on the work of our hands …”⁸ We can now see clearly why Chazal compared the princes' offerings to the Song of the Sea. Just as at the sea Nachshon rose through the middah of zeal and mesirus nefesh, so here he roused that middah among the other princes, and that is why they brought their offerings for the dedication of the altar.

7So too with Torah study. As is well known, zeal and renewal with mesirus nefesh are among the main ways through which the Torah is acquired.⁹ That is why the Midrash also likens the princes' offering to the two Tablets of the Covenant and the receiving of the Torah.

8This lets us understand why the Torah repeats the princes' offerings in detail so many times. From the princes' zeal we are to learn that even when a person does the same act many times, zeal renews him, and his deed counts as something new and entirely different. Our holy Torah teaches us this by repeating each prince's offering again and again. Although the offerings themselves were identical in number, each prince brought them with a fresh spirit, and so the same offering was like a new and entirely different one.

9We have just received the holy Torah on the festival of Shavuos, and the Torah brings a person to zeal, as we know from the saying of R' Pinchas ben Yair.¹⁰ So we must make an effort to work on zeal, for it helps greatly in avodas Hashem, the service of Hashem, and in the daily routine of every person on earth.

10May it be His will that we be privileged to serve Him with zeal, to keep and fulfill all the words of the Torah. Amen.