This week’s parsha, Naso, is the longest parsha. One of the reasons it is so long is because at the end of the parsha, there are 72 verses that discuss the offerings and gifts the Nasi’im (leaders of each tribe) brought to the Mishkan when it was dedicated. Each of the twelve leaders brought the same exact offerings and gifts and for each Nasi, it lists everything he brought. Why does the Torah need to repeat the same six verses over for each of the Nasi’im?

The world today is still very much like the Greek culture that existed thousands of years ago. During the Greek era, one of the main focuses was on competition. This is why the Olympics began in Greece. This culture was all about having one person who is better than everyone else and that person is the winner. In some ways, this can be very positive. It will make people push themselves to their limits so they can win the honorable first place trophy or medallion. In other ways, this is very dangerous because while one person wins, many more lose. People can very easily become depressed when they see they have no chance of ever finishing in first place.

In Judaism, we do not believe in competition. We might have Gedolim, our great rabbis, but that does not mean those who are not Gedolim cannot also be great. It does not mean that Gedolim are the only winners. In Judaism, we believe that people do not race against each other but they are in a competition against themselves. Before birth, a person is given a mission in life that they can accomplish with the talents and abilities they have been given. If they reach the level that they are supposed to reach, then they are winners, and it does not matter if there are millions of people better than them. For example, if a person takes a test and works their hardest to get a 70 on the test, if that is truly the best they could do, then they are better than those who scored 99 on the test that were supposed to score 100. It does not matter if it looks like others are doing better because in Judaism, we do not compete against other people, only ourselves.

This may be one of the reasons why all of the offerings and gifts of all of the Nasi’im is listed in this week’s parsha. It is to remind us that we are not competing. They could have each brought something different and better, but they all brought the same thing to show we do not need to look greater than others. As two major sports leagues finish their finals within the next few days, let’s remember that this type of competition is not the Torah’s way. It may be exciting to see our favorite team be crowned as number one, but in Heaven, the real winner might be the team that it gave their all but played their last game before the playoffs began.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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