We know that the Torah is quite sparing with words, and many times halachos are derived from just one extra letter. Therefore, it is puzzling that our Parashah has so many verses dedicated to the offerings brought by the Nesi’im upon the inauguration of the Mishkan.
The twelve Nesi’im brought identical gifts, yet instead of speaking about the first and having one verse stating how the others followed suit, the same passage is repeated twelve times! Why is this so?
The Ramban (7:2) answers that Hashem has a great desire to honor those who fear Him, as the verse states, “Those who honor Me, I will honor” (Shmuel 1 2:30). The Nesi’im were such holy G-d-fearing people that Hashem wanted to accord them sufficient honor. It would be unbefitting to only mention the name of one of the Nesi’im and to state that the other ones followed suit.
Elaborating on this idea, Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe teaches that there is an additional facet to the trait of gratitude. We all know that we are supposed to feel gratitude to Hashem as well as towards people who help us, but there is also Hashem’s gratitude towards us. Rav Wolbe explains that Hashem really appreciated the righteous Nesi’im, and as an expression of gratitude, gave them each an individual passage describing their gifts. (Alei Shur, vol. 2 p. 278)
This idea—that Hashem also expresses His gratitude to us—is really a key theme of the holiday of Shavuos. We just commemorated that Hashem chose us from all the nations to be His treasured people and gave us the biggest gift, the Torah. In what merit were we chosen? We know that our forefathers excelled in Avodas Hashem, reaching very high spiritual levels. Hashem really appreciated their numerous good deeds and steadfast commitment, resulting in their descendants being singled out to be His chosen nation.
We mention this three times daily, in the first berachah of the Shemoneh Esrei, when we say zocher chasdei avos (“Who remembers the kindnesses of our forefathers”). We are praising Hashem for appreciating the good of our forefathers, for in that merit, we are fortunate enough to be His chosen nation.
We are supposed to try and take the powerful messages that we gleaned from Shavuos and help apply them to our Avodas Hashem during the rest of the year. When we do this, we can help bring Shavuos with us.
So now is the time to appreciate how much Hashem appreciates the good qualities of our ancestors in addition to the good that we do. He handpicked us to be His beloved nation and emissaries in this world.