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Harav Hagaon Elimelech Reznick Shlita

When You Give Kavod, You Merit Kavod
Parashas Nasso
Harav Hagaon Elimelech Reznik Shlita

We say in the zemiros of Shabbos: ובאו כולם בברית יחד נעשה ונשמע אמרו כאחד, referring to Chazal’s statement that when Klal Yisrael said naaseh venishma they said it k’echad — equally, as one. They all started at the same time and ended at the same time, with no one saying it before his friend and no one saying it later. Apparently, there was a maalah in that, besides the maalah of actually saying naaseh venishma.

Why?

One explanation is that if someone had said it later than his friend, there might have been a chisaron in his kabbalah, since it wasn’t his own kabbalah, but merely an imitation of what he heard someone else say. Since they all said it at the same time, making the same kabbalah, it was a personal kabbalah of every individual.

I would like to suggest another explanation.

When we say that Klal Yisrael said naaseh venishma as one, the point isn’t that no one said it later than someone else, but rather than no one said it earlier.

The advantage of this can be understood according to a Midrash in Parashas Nasso regarding the korbanos of the nesi’im. Each of the twelve nesi’im brought an identical offering for the chanukas hamishkan: the same silver bowl, weighing 130, the same mizrak full of fine flour, the same ketores, and the same animals. The same korban is repeated in the Torah twelve times, and the Midrash teaches:

והיה קרבן כולן שוה כארכן כך רחבן כך משקלן ולא הקריב אחד מהן יותר על חבירו שאילו הקריב אחד מהן יותר על חבירו לא היה קרבן אחד מהן דוחה את השבת. אמר להם הקדוש ברוך הוא אתם חלקתם כבוד אחד לחבירו ואני חולק לכם כבוד שתקריבו ביום שבת שלי כדי שלא יהא הפסק בקרבנכם.

Because the korbanos were all equal, with no one offering more than another, Hashem allowed their offering to be brought on Shabbos, and indeed, the korban of Ephraim was brought on Shabbos. Had their offerings not been the same, they would not have been allowed to bring them on Shabbos. In other words, had one nasi brought more than the others, that would have been a chisaron.

Human nature is to want to be recognized and to stand out. We distinguish ourselves in comparison to others — I’m different, I do things better — and that’s what makes us feel important. We measure our own self-worth not by what we do, but by how we are different from others and better than them. But that is a lack of kavod towards others, a form of מתכבד בקלון חבירו, as we are essentially using others to bring honor to ourselves.

Here, the nesi’im decided to bring their korbanos together, and make them exactly equal. No one would feel bad, chas v’shalom, that another person was offering something different or better. And because they were careful with the kavod of one another, Hashem accorded them the honor of allowing them to bring these korbanos even on Shabbos.

We see, then, that by doing something together, and not trying to outdo one another, we are mechabed one another, and when Hakadosh Baruch Hu sees that, He, kaveyachol, is mechabed us, and that brings the hashraas haShechinah.

Apparently, this was a precondition to Mattan Torah. Mattan Torah was the “wedding” of Klal Yisrael and Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and when He came to be mechabed us, it was conditional upon our honoring one another. Had naaseh venishma not been said by all of Klal Yisrael at once — had one person screamed it out ahead of the others by even a millisecond — that would not have been a display of kavod to one another. It might have showcased the intensity of one person’s avodah, but it also would have conveyed, “I had the hisorerus first — I said it better.” Through saying naaseh venishma simultaneously, they accorded honor to one another, and they thereby merited being honored by Hakadosh Baruch Hu with the giving of the Torah.

The Malachim Join Us
The Magen Avraham, in his Zayis Raanan commentary on the Midrash, notes that only a korban tzibbur overrides Shabbos; a korban yachid does not. When the nesi’im decided to bring their korbanos together, not each one individually, they elevated their offerings from the status of a korban yachid to the status of a korban tzibbur, which meant that it could be brought even on Shabbos. Its status was similar to that of the korban pesach, which is considered a communal offering because it is brought “בכנופיא,” in an assembly, even though each korban is brought separately. When many individuals come together, that creates a tzibbur.

The Gemara teaches that the malachim don’t say shirah until Klal Yisrael says shirah.

Why?
Rav Chaim Brisker explained that shirah is a davar shebikedushah, and a davar shebikedushah requires a minyan, a tzibbur. Malachim cannot form a tzibbur, however; only Klal Yisrael can. Once a tzibbur of Klal Yisrael has assembled, the malachim can join, and that is why Klal Yisrael has to begin saying shirah first.

This idea sheds new light on the opening words of the Kedushah of Nusach Sefard that begins: כֶּתֶר יִתְּנוּ לְךָ ה’ אֱלֹקֵינוּ מַלְאָכִים הֲמוֹנֵי מַעְלָה עִם עַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל קְבוּצֵי מַטָּה. From the statement that the malachim crown Hashem along with Klal Yisrael, we infer that Klal Yisrael are the ones who begin. The malachim are referred to as הֲמוֹנֵי מַעְלָה, meaning that there are huge numbers of them, but they are all the same, and therefore do not blend into a tzibbur. In contrast, Klal Yisrael are described as קְבוּצֵי מַטָּה, a collection of individuals that do form a tzibbur. A tzibbur can only be formed of different elements who come together to be mechabed one another and equal to one another. That is what gives us the right to engage, as a tzibbur, in a davar shebikedushah. A davar shebikedushah requires the presence of the Shechinah, and we know that the Shechinah rests only upon a tzibbur. So the very definition of a tzibbur is when you have different individuals coming together in mutual respect.

The Midrash states, at the end of Shir Hashirim, regarding the passuk הַיּוֹשֶׁבֶת בַּגַּנִּים חֲבֵרִים מַקְשִׁיבִים לְקוֹלֵךְ הַשְׁמִיעִינִי, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu comes to the shuls to hear Klal Yisrael’s davening, and He tells them to raise their voices so that the malachim can hear. The Midrash then adds:

כשישראל נכנסין לבתי כנסיות וקורין קריאת שמע בכיוון הדעת, בקול אחד בדעה וטעם אחד, הקדוש ברוך הוא אומר להם היושבת בגנים, כשאתם קורין חברים אני ופמליא שלי מקשיבים לקולך השמיעני, אבל כשישראל קורין קריאת שמע בטירוף הדעת, זה מקדים וזה מאחר ואינם מכוונין דעתם בקריאת שמע, רוח הקדש צווחת ואומרת ברח דודי.

When Hakadosh Baruch Hu comes to the shuls and hears Klal Yisrael reciting Krias Shema, if they recite it in unity, He says, “Raise your voice so that the malachim can hear.” But when they’re not together, the Divine Spirit screams, ברח דודי.

In other words, the advantage of a tzibbur is that everyone is together. Does that mean that if we’re together in one tzibbur, everyone’s tefillah is the same, and everyone’s avodah and Torah are the same? Absolutely not!

Exactly the Same, But Entirely Different
The Ramban poses the well-known question of why the Torah repeats the korbanos of the nesi’im twelve times, rather than simply saying that on the first day, Nachshon Ben Aminadav offered such-and-such a korban, and then adding that everyone else brought the same offering.

The Ramban gives two answers, the first of which is that had the Torah said that, it would have constituted a lack of kavod to the rest of the nesi’im. Since they all brought the same korban, singling out Nachshon and then saying, in effect, “And I’d also like to thank everyone else who helped him” would have been an affront to the others, so the Torah went and specified the offering of each one.

Every letter in the Torah is significant, and entire derashos are derived from even a single extra letter. Yet here, the Torah devotes all this space to repeating the offerings of each nasi, making Parashas Nasso the longest parashah in the Torah, with 176 pesukim. All this in order to give honor the nesi’im! Apparently, since they accorded honor to one another, they merited this honor, middah k’neged middah.

The Ramban then gives a second explanation: Although each nasi brought an identical korban, each one represented a different form of avodah. Yehuda’s offering represented malchus, and each aspect of it carried significance in that context. Yissachar’s offering corresponded to Torah, while Zevulun’s offering represented the commerce that supports bnei Torah. Each shevet had its own thoughts and intentions.

What emerges, then, is that the korbanos of the nesi’im are not truly repetitious, because each day, an entirely different offering was brought! They might sound the same, but in truth they are totally different.

We might think that in the process of coming together as a tzibbur, each person would lose his individuality, but that is far from the truth. In the outward, practical manifestation of their offering, all the nesi’im brought the same thing, in an effort to honor one another and not try to outdo the others. Because they accorded this honor to one another, they merited great things, and brought the hashra’as haShechinah into the Mishkan. Yet even within this tzibbur, this קְבוּצֵי מַטָּה, each person’s korban was entirely different — so different, that the Torah repeats it again and again.

We should be zocheh to accord honor to one another and care about other people’s kavod, and through that we’ll merit that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will be mechabed us, too.

Gut Shabbos.

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