Nu, so?

Every year when we read Parshat Naso, I hear my father asking, “Nu, so?”  This is, for those of you not familiar, the Galitzianer (Polish Jewish) pronunciation of the word Naso.  Nu, so, what can we learn this week?

Parshat Naso features the recounting of the gifts brought by the nesi’im, the princes of the tribes. Each of these 12 leaders brough the exact same gift. Instead of saying simply that each of the 12 leaders gave the exact same gift, which could be done in a few verses, the Torah lists a separate paragraph for each leader – a whopping 71 verses. Considering that the Torah is usually pretty exact with language, what gives?

The gift of each Nasi is mentioned separately since each nasi – and each tribe – have a unique story to tell. Just because the leader all brought the same gift does not mean everything is exactly the same. Each nasi’s gift cam along with each nasi’s unique style and each tribe’s unique personality. That is worthy of teaching individually – even if it makes Naso the longest portion with 176 verses.

Each of us has a unique role to play and a story to tell. Each of our families and communities has a personality all their own. Nu, so, what do we learn from Naso? We should pay attention to each and every person and story. Even when they seem the same, they are all, in fact, quite unique.