I should like you to imagine a beautiful picture. This picture is enclosed in a worthy frame. The whole is to be found in a magnificent room. Is not the beauty of the picture, great enough in itself, enhanced by the happy surroundings? The joy which you must be feeling on this day of your barmitzvah is surely in the same way increased with the other joys with which it is mingled. Two beloved people who have anxiously watched the progress of their grandson through the troublous war years celebrate at the same time a happy and auspicious anniversary. Nor is this all. Your parents' interest in our community over a number of years has been rewarded by the mark of honor which has so recently been conferred upon your father by the Synagogue. In truth you can say with the Psalmist:
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we shall be glad and rejoice thereon.[Psalms 118.24]
This is then a joyful day, but it is a serious day too, for on it you undertake new and greater responsibilities. This morning you read to us from the scroll of the law about a man who can, I feel, serve you as an example in the new duties which you undertake this day:
And he that presented his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah.[Numbers 7.12]
Our rabbis asked why Nahshon was privileged to be the first of the twelve princes who made an offering for the altar, and they relate of him the following legend. Just before the crossing of the Red Sea, the people stood on its banks eyeing the water very much as does a child about to have his first swimming lesson. They felt sure that the waters would part, yet they hesitated. Now Nahshon son of Amminadab was a man of determination. He marched forward first, and stepped into the water. The people watched breathless as he waded out, and just as it seemed that the waters must surely pass over his head, the sea parted, and joyously the children of Israel followed after.
At this moment of your life you are standing in a somewhat similar position. Your life stretches out before you, even as the Red Sea stretched out before Nahshon, as yet unknown, and perhaps a little daunting. But take your cue from him, and enter into this new phase in your life with determination, and above all with a faith in God's promise of help. There are bound to be times in your life when you feel as Nahshon must have felt when the water reached up to his neck. But that is just the time when, if you have faith, the waters will surely part, even as they did for Nahshon and his followers. Go forward, like him, in the name of the Almighty, without turning back or going on strike at the crucial moment.
Let us follow Nahshon at a later stage in his life when he came to make his offering, as you read to us. The fact that the verse I have just quoted mentions the name of Nahshon's father Amminadab, and tribe, Judah, did not escape the keen eyes of the rabbis. You might think, they say, that the reason these were mentioned is that Nahshon's offering was the result of a collection he made for the purpose from his father and his tribe, and he palmed it off as his own. No, they say, Nahson's offering was his own, and came from none but himself. The mention of his father and tribe was simply to accord them honor, as they would be proud of so worthy a son as Nahshon. He was indeed, as they say, a credit to himself, a credit to his father, and a credit to his tribe.
In the same way, it must be your aim "to make an offering." You must devote your life to the highest ideals, and you must employ any speial talents you may have to further the ultimate triumph of good over evil. By this dedication of yourself, you will indeed bring honor to your parents and your people. But you must not rely on them to do your duties for you. Your performance of commandments and good deeds must spring from your own desire to do them. Your parents and religious guides will be ever at hand to guide and assist you, but the ultimate motivation of all your worthy deeds must come from within, for from today you are responsible to the Almighty for your actions, and to him one day you must give an account.
Let Nahshon be your model. Copy his virtues of faith in God, determination, and a healthy independence and desire to do good in person, and not lean too heavily on his pedigree or the merits of his ancestors. Continue your studies in our sacred literature, and follow your father's example of interest in our community, and regular attendance at our synagogue.
Be proud of your Jewish inheritance, and then surely the Almighty will bestow on you the blessing which he promised us through Aaron the Priest:
The Lord bless and preserve you; the Lord cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; the Lord turn his face towards you, and grant you peace.
The author of this page is:
Alan D. Corré