Our parsha relates the gifts of the leaders of the tribes of Israel for the purpose of enabling the service of the Leviim in the Mishkan. The events described take place on the days of Nissan leading up to Pesach, and some people have the custom of reciting the text of each gift on the day in Nissan on which it was given. As a result of this timing, we begin our springtime holidays with the recitation of the gifts just before Pesach and we conclude by reading this parsha immediately after the holiday of Shavuot. We effectively bookend these holidays with the dedication of the Mishkan. Fittingly, the autumn holiday of Sukkot corresponds to the dedication of the first Beit HaMikdash by Shlomo HaMelech.
The Ramban notes that the practice of dedicating the Sanctuary in a ceremony involving the Kohanim, Leviim, and Yisraelim is an eternal commandment to be observed on every such occasion. The prophet Yechezkel also describes a conforming ceremony of dedication for the third Beit HaMikdash, may it be built soon in our time.
Each of the leaders of the tribes brings a gift which is identical to the gifts of every other one. The Torah relates the gift of each and every tribe in detail, in spite of the fact that they are all the same. Our sages taught that we may conclude from this that the leader of each tribe came to the decision of what to bring independently of the others, although they all came to the same decision. The Torah doesn’t wish to take away from the credit due every one of these great tzaddikim for the gift that he decided to bring. The Ramban says that while every tribe brought the same gifts, for the most part the underlying reasons were different and unique to that tribe, its virtues and weaknesses. As the attentive student of Torah may learn hidden truths from a close examination of the text, these sections describing the identical offerings of every tribe will actually yield different secrets and revelations. Therefore, the Torah takes the trouble to describe each one in detail.
The Ramban brings many examples of this approach which can be reviewed in detail in his commentary at the end of Parshat Naso. He informs us that each of the tribes had an oral tradition from our forefather Yaakov of what would befall them over time until the coming of the final redemption. At the beginning of this long journey, each tribe in its own unique way seeks to leave its imprint on the site of communal worship of the nation of Israel. In the end, in spite of their differences, they are all the same. The Ramban comments that all together they bring twelve silver platters. Each donated platter is of the utmost purity without imperfection. So too, every tribe in their dedication to the dedication of the Mishkan was pure, concentrated, and flawless.
