Komentarz do Liczb 7:18

הקריב נתנאל בן צוער... הקרב את קרבנו NETANEL BROUGHT HIS OFFERING...HE BROUGHT HIS OFFERING: Why is the word הִקְרִב, “brought [his offering],” used in connection with the tribe of Issachar, but is not used in connection with any of the [other] tribes? Because [the tribe of] Reuben came and complained, “Is it not enough that my brother Judah has preceded me? Let me [at least] offer up after him.” Moses said to him,“I was told by the Almighty that they should offer up in the order in which they travel, according to their divisions.” This is why it says: הִקְרִב אֶת קָרְבָּנוֹ, [in which the word הִקְרִב is] missing a“yud,” [thus] giving it the meaning of הַקְרֵב, in the imperative for he was commanded by the Almighty,“Bring the offering!” What is the meaning of הִקְרִב … הִקְרִב, twice? For because of two reasons he [Issachar] merited to be the second of the tribes to offer their sacrifices: One, because they were [well] versed in the Torah, as it says,“And of the sons of Issachar, those who had understanding of the times” (I Chron. 12:32). Another, because they advised the princes to contribute these offerings (Sifrei Bamidbar 53). In the treatise of Rabbi Moses Hadarshan [“the preacher”], I found [the following]: Rabbi Pinchas the son of Yair says [that] Netanel the son of Zu’ar gave them this idea.

ביום השני, On the second day, etc. The reason the tribe of Issachar was accorded the honour of offering this sacrifice on the second day was that their prince represented a tribe which would become renowned for its command of Torah. This is why he preceded Reuben although the latter was the senior member of the tribes. Not only this, but also the prince of Zevulun was placed ahead of Reuben seeing that it was the generosity of that tribe which would allow the members of the tribe of Issachar to study Torah without worrying about where their livelihood would come from (compare Deut. 33,18 where Moses even blessed Zevulun ahead of Issachar).

ביום השני הקריב נתנאל בן צוער נשיא יששכר, הקרב את קרבנו, “on the second day, Netanel son of Zuor prince of Issachar brought an offering. He brought his offering, etc.” In verse 19 the letter י is absent in the word הקרב. Why is that? Moreover, in connection with the offerings of all the other princes we find the sequence 'קרבנו קערת כסף אחת וגו', whereas in the case of Netanel the Torah wrote הקרב את קרבנו, “he brought forward his offering.” The Torah implies with these words that Netanel was instructed by G’d to offer his sacrifice after Nachshon. There had been a protest by the other princes who felt they should take precedence being that the tribe of Yissachar is the fifth in the order of the tribes. To counter such claims the Torah hints by omitting the letter י from the word הקרב that G’d specifically commanded that Yissachar be the second tribe to bring the offering. This omission implies that they were initially distanced by the other tribes before G-d intervened and 'brought them close'. The tribe of Yissachar merited this honor due to the fact that there were many Torah scholars amongst them, as related in Divrei Hayamim I 12:33 "Of the Issacharites, men who knew how to interpret the signs of the times, to determine how Israel should act; their chiefs were 200, and all their brethren followed them" — this implies that the entire nation "followed them" in Halachic matters.

VV. 18 u. 19. ביום השני הקריב וגו׳ הקרב וגו׳. Die Darbringung am zweiten Tage wird wiederholt mit הקריב eingeleitet, um ihr, und so auch allen folgenden, die darauf nur mit der kürzer berichtenden Fassung: ביום הרביעי נשיא, ביום השלישי נשיא וגו׳ usw. aufgeführt werden, obgleich sie alle nur die Wiederholung des ersten für ihren Stamm waren, ganz dieselbe selbständige Dignität wie dem ersten zu bewahren. Im ספרי wird darin eine Auszeichnung des Stammes Jissachar erkannt, der sich als יודעי בינה לעתים לדעת מה יעשה ישראל (Chron. I. 12, 32) auszeichnete und dessen Fürst, Nethanel, eben derjenige war, der diese ganze חנכת המזבח angeregt und entworfen hatte.

ביום השני הקריב ...נשיא ישכר, “on the second day the prince of Issachar offered his inaugural offering; [an identical one as were those of all the twelve princes. Ed.] The reason that this tribe was accorded the honour of being the second, although according to seniority he was far younger, was that the members of this tribe excelled in Torah knowledge as has been testified to in Chronicles I 12,32: ומבני יששכר יודעי בינה לעתים, “and from among the members of the tribe Issachar, who knew how to interpret the signs of the times.” [Whereas the other tribes all sent delegations of between 20000 and 10000 for the official coronation of King David, Issachar sent only two hundred, who made up in quality for what they lacked in quantity. Ed.] This is also the reason why the word הקרב which is always spelled with the letter י after the letter ר is spelled defectively here. Rashi offers a different reason for this

הקריב נתנאל בן צוער, Netanel the son of Tzuar offered his gift. In this instance the Torah mentioned the name of the prince before telling us that Netanel was one of the princes. This was also intended to demonstrate that his merit was such that he could have claimed the right to be number two in the lineup even if he had not been a prince. We do not find this again amongst all the other ten princes which follow. Netanel's name is a reminder of the Torah and the means by which it was acquired. Solomon refers to the Torah in Proverbs 4,2 as כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם, i.e. that what G'd has given (the Torah) is a good instruction. The means by which we acquired the Torah is reflected in Netanel's father's name בן צוער, an allusion to pain, צער. The message is that Torah can only be truly acquired through one's undergoing a process of afflictions. We are taught in Gittin 57 that the line אדם כי ימות באהל (Numbers 19,14) is a reminder that in order to truly acquire Torah one must "kill oneself" in the tent of Torah, i.e. in the hall of study by deeply immersing oneself in the mysteries of the Torah. Perhaps this is another reason why Netanel's name precedes his title, to hint that his tribe's immersion in Torah is already reflected in his very name. The first time the Bible mentions that the members of this tribe were outstanding Torah scholars is in Chronicles I 12,33 where the small number of delegates sent by this tribe to David's coronation is explained by the fact that these delegates were יודעי בינה לעתים, "aware of the need of the times." The manner in which their prince "killed" himself in order to study Torah may have contributed to the members of his tribe emulating him and becoming יודעי בינה לעתים.