Tetzaveh

‎‎Our parsha details all the garments worn by the Kohanim. Among the extra articles of clothing that the Kohen Gadol wore was the eiphod, upon which was placed the Choshen. This was held up by two straps which had two stones placed upon them. The Torah tells us to engrave the names of the Bnei Yisroel ששה משמותם על האבן האחת six from their names on one stone, ואת שמות הששה הנותרים על האבן השני כתולדתם, and the names of the six remaining ones on the second stone.

‎Reading these words one can't help but wonder why the posuk calls the second six הנותרים , the leftovers? Are they worth any less than the others? The אור החיים increases the wonderment by saying that they were listed כתולדותם in order of their birth. Does being born later mean they had less value? So why does the posuk call them the leftovers?

The last thing the Torah commands us to build is the golden altar upon which we are to bring the Ketores twice a day. 
The Ketores was made up of eleven different spices. One of them was the Chelbina, which had a foul odor yet was included in the spices of the incense, to teach us that even the sinners among us should be included in serving Hashem. 

The בן איש חי has an interesting perspective. He says that even though the Chelbina was included, it was included only as an extra. There are ten main spices & added to them is the one different one with the bad smell. Like the story with the בעל ההפלאה, he called together a minyan of men to his home. However, one of the people who came was a sinner & the בעל ההפלאה didn't want to count on him for the minyan so he asked another person to come too. The man went up to the בעל ההפלאה & said, “Rebbi, why won't you include me? We see that even the Chelbana was included in the Ketores, even though it had a bad smell!?” The rabbi answered, “I did just like the mishna says, אחד עשר סממנים היו בה , eleven spices were in it.... however asks the בן איש חי , if in reality we do include the Chelbina, why isn't it part of the main ten?

He answers that the Chelbina with its bad smell wasn't meant to harm the good smell of the rest of the spices. Rather the good would  totally encompass the bad just as light isn't noticeable without having the dark, good isn't as noticeable without having the bad. Therefore, first it was necessary to have the complete ten to be good; then we could include the bad. So, too, it is with the sinners. If we include them, then the prayers of the good people look so much better. When we include the Chelbana spice, the good smell of all the other spices is so much more noticeable & the bad smell is indiscernible. So, too, by the actions of the wicked, the good people are much more noticeable.

Another possible reason to include the sinners, is that when they are included & are part of the group, they may become inspired to change. Perhaps that's the reason the Torah calls the six names on the second stone, the leftovers. It’s teaching us this lesson that even if someone feels like they're a leftover, not really part of the group, we are telling them that they are included. Not only that but anyone could feel like that & come back just like the ones on the second stone. They were no less great than the ones on the first stone but are called leftovers. Anyone who feels down & out can always come back and be just as great as everyone else!