Parashat Naso: Gifts fit for a Prince (or twelve)
On 23rd April 2020, a remarkable set of lists appeared on the Royal Family's official website (ww.royal.uk) It provided details of every official gift the members of the family had received whilst carrying out official duties during the previous year.
Those
honoured were the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, along with their children
and the Duke of Kent. Her Majesty the
Queen received nearly seventy gifts, whilst her late husband was presented with
only three!
Some
of the Queen's more unusual additions to the Royal Collection included:
○
a
'24 carat gold-plated horse comb, entitled 'Golden Heritage - the comb on
horse's harness' gifted by President Borut Pahor of the Republic of Slovenia in
February.
○
a
'Painting of a swimming pig of The Bahamas' from the Governor-General of the
Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Her Excellency Dame Marguerite Pindling in June.
○
Three
wood carvings of pygmy hippos which are native to the forests and swamps of
West Africa from the Ambassador of Liberia, Her Excellency Mrs. Gurly Gibson in October.
○ And a 'Silver long boat and oars, presented in a box lined with embroidery made in separate pieces by local craftswomen, with the designs promoting 'good luck'. courtesy of the Ambassador of Colombia, His Excellency Mr. Antonio Jose Ardila in November.
https://www.royal.uk/official-gifts-received-2019
Each
gift was no doubt gratefully received and may have been kept by the Queen or
given as a present to someone in the household or donated to a charity
(according to the My London website:
https://www.mylondon.news/news/uk-world-news/what-queen-gifts-flowers-royal-23779721).
Along
with these offerings, the Queen also received many paintings, books, garments
and other items which were given to her by numerous grateful international
representatives to whom she granted an audience. Each emissary wanted to honour Her Majesty in
a way that was unique to their own culture.
The
sight of dignitaries bringing gifts to a monarch is not new. As we know, it stretches back to ancient
times when the provincial chiefs brought all kinds of presents to whichever
leader ruled the Empire that they were part of, be it a Pharaoh or King. These could include slaves and/or huge beasts
such as elephants and tigers. It would
be extremely dangerous not to partake in this ritual, granted the repercussions
that the said ruler could initiate were he not to be honoured in a manner of
his choosing.
Which
is why the central portion of this week's Parasha, the longest one in the
entire Torah, seems so remarkable. Chapter
Seven lists the beautiful gifts brought by the princes of the twelve tribes. The Torah tells us that following Moshe's
consecration of the Mishkan, the altar and its utensils, the honourable
gentlemen who were appointed to be the princes of each respective tribe joined
together to donate six covered wagons and twelve oxen - a 'wagon for every two
leaders and for one, an ox'. These were
then given to the Leviim/Levites. This
was followed by the numerous offerings described in the remainder of the
chapter, with each prince bringing his gifts to the Mishkan, one tribe per day.
These
presentations consisted of (Numbers
7:13-17):
○ One silver
bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels according to the
sanctuary weight, both filled with fine flour mixed with oil, for a grain
offering;
○ one golden
spoon weighing 10 shekels, filled with incense;
○ one young
bull, one ram and one yearling sheep for a burnt offering;
○ one goat for
a purification offering;
○ and for the peace sacrifice, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five yearling sheep.
All of the above comprised the gift of Nachshon ben
Aminadav, who was the prince of the tribe of Judah. This being the donation on the renowned
‘eighth day’ which we read about in Parashat Shemini and was known as the
Chanukat HaMishkan – the dedication of the Tabernacle.
As we
know, the Torah then describes the gifts for the next eleven days (which we
also repeat as the readings for each of the days of Chanukah). Each day, a new tribal prince brought the
identical 'basket of goods' (using a modern-day idiom) as his predecessor.
Can
you imagine the outcry if the Slovenian President had presented the Queen with
exactly the same gift as Her Excellency Mrs.
Gurly Gibson of Liberia, in tandem with Her Excellency Dame Marguerite
Pindling of the Bahamas and His Excellency Mr.
Antonio Jose Ardila of Columbia? Talk about a Diplomatic meltdown!
Yet
here, the princes of each tribe brought the same items to the earthly location
that was the King of the Universe’s sanctuary.
There
are two questions to ask.
Firstly,
why does the Torah repeat the offerings verbatim for each tribe and secondly,
why did the princes bring identical gifts?
Rabbi
Menachem Leibtag of the Orthodox Union contextualises the events that took
place from Rosh Chodesh Nisan until the twelfth of the month (shortly before
the first anniversary of the Exodus).
Shortly
after that first Shavuot, we know that the Israelites sinned by worshipping the
Golden Calf. Gd subsequently told Moshe
that, although he would not destroy the nation, he didn't want to dwell in
their midst either and he removed his shechinah, the Holy Spirit from within
the camp. The Bnei Yisrael were
instructed to build the Mishkan so that Gd's shechinah could return to the
people and thereby re-establish the Covenantal relationship that had existed
before the crisis. As they tried their
best to right the wrongs that they had committed, they were painfully aware
that Gd was remaining outside their encampment.
The
inauguration of the Mishkan took place on Rosh Chodesh Nisan, the first day of
the new month. Aharon and his sons
initiated the ceremony (at which point, tragically, the eldest two were struck
down) and the wagons were provided by the princes in order to transport the
Mishkan on its journeys with the people.
However, the shechinah could not return fully until the princes had
worked together in unity to contribute towards the Mishkan, hence the gifts
which were given to dedicate the Tabernacle.
So that no tribe would feel superior to the rest, every prince was given
his own day to bring his tribe’s gifts. Each
tribe received equal treatment and this led to an extraordinary feeling of
unity or ‘achdut’ throughout the fledgling nation.
The
Torah's emphasis on describing and highlighting this achdut lies in its
description of each and every tribe bringing exactly the same gifts on each and
every day. This is the message of the
Parasha.
As if
to underscore the point, towards the end of the chapter, the Torah tells us:
All
this was the dedication offering from the princes of Israel for the altar at
the time that it was anointed...
In other
words, all twelve princes presented their gifts to Moshe on the first day of
the ceremony in a show of achdut. This
was followed by the events that I have described above.
The
chapter ends with the following pasuk:
When
Moshe went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with [God], he would hear the
Voice addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the
Pact between the two cherubim; thus [Gd] spoke to him.
Finally,
after everything had happened, it took the achdut of the Bnei Yisrael to bring
Gd back into their midst, in the heart of the camp - in the Holy of Holies.
At
the end of the day, the gifts that people bring are less important than the
reasons why they do so. The numerous
dignitaries who showed their genuine love and respect for the Queen (a feeling
that was explicitly demonstrated by the general population during the glorious
Jubilee weekend) gave her gifts that may or may not mean a great deal to their
worthy recipient. That is not the point of
the exercise and both they and Her Majesty know this. In donating the most beautiful items to the
Mishkan on behalf of their respective tribes, the factor that brought the
shechinah back into the camp was not based on the accrued value of the objects
therein, as precious and expensive as they happened to be. Their intrinsic worth came about as a result
of the unity demonstrated by the children of Israel.
We saw last week how much the Queen is loved throughout this land and far beyond its borders. For four days, we as a nation united irrespective of the differences which divide us. In unity, we have the strength to overcome all challenges. In unity, the Bnei Yisrael were ready to leave Sinai and make their way to the Promised Land and that is something we should cherish, for it is only when we are united that we can truly bring about the Geulah Shelaimah - The final redemption. May it come speedily in our days. Amen.
Shavuah tov.
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