Not again!
Jodie Herszaft, Mizrachi UK Fellow in Israel
We read in this week’s Parsha, ‘The leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ household, brought offerings…’ (Numbers 7:2). We hear at great length the offerings that were brought by the Nesi’im who were the leaders of the Tribes, on the day that the Mishkan was inaugurated. What is interesting to note, that each Nasi offered the exact same offering, but yet the Torah describes each Nasi’s offering separately.
Thus, on the surface this sounds extremely repetitive and perhaps even unnecessary! Why could the Torah not have simply mentioned the offerings of the first Nasi, and then gone onto say ‘and thus did the Nasi’im of Issachar, Zebulun, etc’? The question is strengthened even further when we consider the principle that the Torah doesn’t waste words, and every letter has a purpose to teach us. Therefore, it seems that the Torah could have explained these offerings in less words than it does.
In actual fact, the Torah is teaching us a fundamental principle and one that can hopefully enhance our Avodat Hashem (service of G-d). It’s telling us that even though each Nasi bought a sacrifice that was identical to the previous one, in G-d’s eyes, it was entirely unique and special to Him, and therefore deserves its own description in the Torah.
We have a constant challenge in Judaism to ensure that our observance remains new and exciting, and doesn’t become something just done by rote without the engagement of our heart. Sometimes we may feel that we are constantly doing the same thing over and over again. Perhaps it’s the tefilla (prayers) we say every day, or the mitzvot (commandments) that we perform.
Unfortunately, like a lot of things, these can all start off exciting, and overtime we may lose that initial enthusiasm. This Parsha acts as a wake-up call to us: that we must realise that every single time we do part of our duty as a Jew, G-d takes pleasure in it, as if we had never done it before. Hopefully using this knowledge, it can motivate us that when our Judaism feels repetitive, we must remind ourselves that each day provides hundreds of new opportunities to connect with Hashem and become the best individuals we can be.
Jodie was brought up in Bushey and went to the Royal Masonic School for Girls. She then spent her gap year learning in Israel in Midreshet Tehillah, followed by her degree in Psychology at City University. During her time in London, Jodie worked as the Informal Educator in Immanuel College, as well as at Tribe and Aish.
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