One Way to Know the Quality of Your Relationships

Parsha [Passage of Scripture] Nugget [Precious Idea] Nasso – Numbers 4:21-7:79

I think most men gave up wearing ties in order to force their children to be more creative when selecting a gift. But isn’t it supposed to be the feeling that counts? Maybe, but after the fifth or sixth one you think they’d choose something, anything, else. This week’s parsha, Nasso, suggests maybe not:

And his offering: one silver bowl of one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin of 70 shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flower mixed with oil for a meal offering. One spoon of ten gold [shekels] filled with incense. One young bull, one ram, and one lamb in it first year for a burnt offering. A goat for a sin offering. And for a peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year. . . (Numbers/Bamidbar 7:13-17)

In this Sabbath’s parsha, the Levites are counted and assigned their responsibilities for transporting the Tabernacle, the procedures for a Sotah and Nazir are described, the Priestly Blessing is given, and the leaders of the twelve tribes bring their offerings to dedicate the Tabernacle.

Nasso is a long parsha. Almost half of it details the dedication gifts of each tribe. The description for each one matches the above verses. The only difference between the twelve gifts is the name of the tribal leader and the day he brought it. If G-d wanted to emphasize their equivalence, He could have described one of them and then noted each tribe brought the identical gift. Why repeat it twelve times?

Despite being physically indistinguishable, the Creator saw each tribe connected different meanings to their gifts. Think about your how you give presents. One week you might give your wife flowers meaning to say I'm sorry. A few weeks later the same kind of flowers might mean happy birthday or simply I love you.

Now, imagine if you had twelve children and they each gave you a birthday present that turned out to be identical. Which explanation to a friend would honor them better: “Oh my children all gave me the same gift,” or “my first child gave me a gift that meant this to me, my second child gave me a gift that meant this other thing to me,” and so on?

Being a gracious recipient means more than saying thank you. You need to take the time to understand the meaning behind a person’s gift. If you don’t like it, could the problem be the relationship is off track or not as close as it ought to be?

That the Almighty received each of the tribes’ gifts with equal favor shows how connected He was to His children.

Got a lot of funky ties in your closet? Perhaps it’s time to focus on your family.

What barometer do you use for tracking the quality of your relationships? Please comment below.

Every year beginning on Simchas Torah, the cycle of reading the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, ends and begins again. Each Sabbath a portion known as a sedra or parsha is read. It is named after the first significant word or two with which this weekly reading begins.

What verse in the Old Testament would you like to know more about? Ask a question and I will answer it in a future Parsha Nugget!