Half a Wagon?
The Jewish people donated generously to the construction of the temple in the desert. Their enthusiasm to donate to the construction project was so great that Moses had to tell the people to stop donating. Yet, after the Tabernacle was built, it was the leaders of the tribes of Israel who donated the means to transport the tabernacle through the treacherous desert. In this week's portion, the portion of Naso, the Torah states:
And it was that on the day that Moses finished erecting the Mishkan, he anointed it, sanctified it, and all its vessels, and the altar and all its vessels, and he anointed them and sanctified them. The chieftains of Israel, the heads of their fathers' houses, presented [their offerings]. They were the leaders of the tribes. They were the ones who were present during the counting. They brought their offering before the Lord: six covered wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for each two chieftains, and an ox for each one; they presented them in front of the Mishkan.[1]
The leader of each of the twelve tribes offered one ox, but only half a wagon, thus a total of twelve oxen and six wagons were donated.
Why did each leader donate only half a wagon? Would it not be more appropriate to donate a complete item to the temple? Would it not be more appropriate for the leaders of the tribes to express more generosity?
In our life, there are two ways in which we can express our creativity and contribute to the world around us; the first way is to do it alone and the second way is to collaborate with others. There are certain things that we feel we must do alone. We like to express our talents in a specific way that captures our unique perspective. It is often hard to include someone else in a project in which we feel deeply invested, because including another perspective would compromise our unique contribution.
Sometimes we like to donate a figurative “complete ox”.
But there are times when we understand that we must collaborate. We understand that in order for society to advance and accomplish great things people must come together in collaboration. People must pool their resources and talents to achieve great results. We understand that we are no more than a part of a whole, that our contribution is hardly significant without combining it with the hard work of others.
There are times when we realize that we are not a “complete wagon”. We recognize that in order to maximize our potential and impact we must combine with others.
The leaders’ choice of gifts reflected an important truth: on one hand, we are complete on our own; while on the other hand, we are half of a greater whole. In our service of G-d, in fulfilling our purpose in life, we are called upon to be a “complete ox”. The powerful ox represents the unique excitement and energy we derive from “going it alone”, we sense that we alone have made a unique contribution to the universe. Yet, we also recognize, that in the service of transporting the Tabernacle, in the awesome mission of bringing the Divine to the spiritual desert, we need a wagon. And for the wagon to be complete we can never be alone.[2]
[1] Numbers 7:1-3.
[2] Inspired by the teachings of the Rebbe, Shabbos Naso 5740.