By Rabbi Joshua (differedly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman z"l
In the beginning of this week's parsha, we are given a list of the thirteen materials that were donated by the nation towards the building of the mishkan. Surprisingly, the avnei shoham and avnei miluim, various form of precious stones, appear at the end of list, last, even though these stones were the most valuable of all the materials donated. Why is their mention delayed until the end of the list? The Ohr HaChayim points to a Midrash cited by Rashi in parshas Vayakheil, which says that these stones were brought by the nesi'im, the heads of the tribes, as their donation. When the Torah mentions this donation, the word nes'im is written without any yud, because they did not bring their donation in the proper way. They decided that they would wait for the rest of the people to bring their donations, and then they, the nesi'im, would fill in whatever was missing. This attitude indicated a certain level of laziness in bringing their donation to the mishkan, and, therefore, their title is written deficiently. For the same reason, says the Ohr HaChayim, their donation is listed last. Although we have discussed this midrash in the past, and suggested that it was not laziness per se that was involved, but a failure to understand the purpose of the free-willed donation to the mishkan, I would like to mention yet another explanation of this midrash, by Rabbi Bernard Weinberger, in his Shemen HaTov, and, based on that explanation, give another reason for the donation of the nesi'im being listed last.
Rabbi Weinberger writes that the mistake made by the nesi'im was that they viewed themselves as being superior to the rest of the nation. They assumed that, if left on their own, they would not be able to provide all of the materials needed, and so they waited and let them bring what they could, anticipating that, in the end, they would make up for whatever the rest of the nation lacked. This attitude of superiority, says Rabbi Weinberger, was in contradiction to one of the main purposes of the mishkan, which was to unite the people in their worship of God. By displaying such a disparaging attitude to the potential of the majority of the nation, the nesi'im were driving a wedge between the so-called upper and lower classes, and defeating the purpose of the donation in the context of the mishkan. Therefore, the 'yud' was left out of their title. My teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveitchik, has pointed out that the letter 'yud' is used to indicate the personal element. For example, the Hebrew word for table is shulchan. If a 'yud' is added to the end of the word, it becomes 'shulchani,' or 'my table.' Since the 'yud' represents the personal element. and the nesi'im, by placing too much emphasis on that element, the nesi'im put them on a pedestal looking down on the others.
Based on this explanation of Rabbi Weinberger, we can suggest further that this is why the donation of the nesi'im is mentioned last. The nesi'im placed themselves on a higher level than the rest of the nation and, therefore, to indicate that this was an improper thing to do, the precious stones that they brought are mentioned last, even though they were, in fact more valuable than the rest of the materials that were donated. This theme of unity in the construction of the mishkan can be demonstrated in a number of ways, but perhaps, in our context, the feature of the briach hatichon, the central bar that held of the wooden boards together, is most instructive. The midrash says that the wood for this central bar came from an acacia tree that was planted by Yaakov in Egypt, and taken out of Egypt by the nation when it was redeemed. Yaakov was the one who brought Yosef and his brothers together before he died, giving each one of them his own blessing and task within the emerging nation, thus teaching them that there was no room for conflict among them, because each had a distinct contribution to make, and all of these contributions were necessary for the proper functioning of the nation. The beriach hatichon, then, which held the mishkan together, was made from the wood of the tree that Yaakov planted, to indicate the unity of the nation and the importance that each member has (see Rav Moshe Tzvi Neriah's Ner La Maor for a different explanation of the connection of Yaakov to the beriach hatichon, and a discussion of another midrash, which traces this central bar back to Avraham). The nesi'im, by holding themselves above the others, did not take this message to heart. For this reason, the precious stones that they donated to the mishkan are listed last.
