NUM56 Perhaps the greatest display of the negation of competition in the Torah is not obvious from the text itself and is only brought to light by piecing together the remarks of the commentaries. The competition to donate the materials needed for building the Tabernacle (especially after the sin of the Golden Calf) had been very spirited. The people all rushed to donate. Rashi explains that the Nesi'im, the leaders of each tribe, intentionally waited until the people would finish bringing their donations, thinking that they would "top" the people by donating whatever that was missing (Rashi commentary on Numbers 12:3). However, the masses brought so much and so quickly that Moses had to actually tell them to stop, and the Nesi'im were left with nothing to bring (Exodus 36:5-7). Thus, Moses told them that each tribal leader would bring his own set of sacrifices during the twelve days of the dedication of the Tabernacle. The competition between the tribal leaders was on! The first Nasi, prince, to bring a sacrifice on the first day, the eminent Nachson, was a proven leader within the leadership tribe of Judah, and he brought a silver dish and silver bowl, both filled with fine flour and oil, a spoon made of gold full of incense, a bull, ram, and lamb as burnt offerings, a kid goat as a sin offering, and two oxen, five goats and five lambs as peace offerings (Numbers 7:12-17). This was quite a display and quite an offering. Now everyone was waiting for the next day's offering to see what the next leader would bring in his natural effort to try to top what Nachson had contributed. Who was to be second in line after Nachson? The Midrash, after citing the initial story about how the Nesi'im missed out in the original donations (the basis of Rashi's commentary), explains that there was great competition between the Nesi'im to be second, and Netanel was chosen by God to bring his sacrifice on the second day because he was a great Torah scholar, as the entire tribe of Yissachar was known as Torah scholars (Midrash, Tanchuma, Naso 14). Another Midrash affirms that Netanel was not only smart in Torah learning, but altogether very intelligent (Midrash, Beraishit Rabbah 72:5). This is very important to know because of Netanel's decision of what to bring. In fact, one commentary states that Netanel gave advice to all the other tribes about what was the proper sacrifice to bring (Ba'al HaTurim commentary on Numbers 7:18). What precisely did Netanel do and what did he bring as his sacrifice? Instead of joining the competition of what today has become known as the "Bar Mitzvah syndrome" mentality, where Jews often try to outdo each other in how special, unique, and expensive their Simcha (celebration) will be, Netanel, with his Torah and innate wisdom, decided to bring the identical sacrifices brought by Nachson, down to the last detail (Numbers 7:18-19). This way, he set the tone for the Nesi'im that followed during the next ten days. After two identical sacrifices one day after the next, each Nasi then fell in line and also brought the exact same sacrifice as the leaders from the first two days. Thus, Netanel created a situation in which the potential competition between these leaders was eliminated. Netanel's special "sacrifice" and advice are alluded to in Rashi. Rashi says that the verse says "he sacrificed" twice-only by his offering-in order to teach us that not only was he more deserving than the others because of his vast Torah scholarship, but also because he gave special advice to all the princes of each tribe to bring the sacrifices specifically in this manner (the same has he did, imitating the first offering of Nachson) (Rashi commentary on Numbers 7:19). These twelve sacrifices, brought in a non-competitive spirit, taught the entire Jewish people that there need not be the normal competition between tribes, and that everyone could work together without the need to be the "best" and outdo the other tribes. In fact, when these leaders brought all the sacrifices to the Tabernacle, the Torah records that the sacrifices were brought altogether, not in twelve separate wagons, but together in six wagons with two sacrifices in each wagon [this verse].