When the time came to contribute to the Mishkan, the leaders said, “let the people bring whatever they can and whatever is missing we will supply”. When it came time for their contribution, the Torah states והנשאם הביאו את אבני השהם and the leaders brought the Shoam stones, for that was all that was left to give.
Rashi says that the reason the word נשיאים is spelled without the yuds is because they erred by not donating first but rather waiting to see what would be left.
The Brisker Rav says we need to study this further. Their decision not to bring first was לשם שמים ; they were willing to take up all the slack & donate whatever would be missing. He concludes that this teaches us that whenever one has a mitzvah to do, don't go analyzing and making cheshbonos. Just do what is incumbent upon you to do without putting your two cents in.
Reb Reuvain Grozovsky takes it a step further and says that one’s purpose in life is not to perfect the world, rather to perfect one’s self. When one does the mitzvos with זריזות , alacrity, he is showing that the mitzvos are his main focus in life.
When the Jewish people were told to contribute to the Mishkan, it wasn't because Hashem needed their money. He could have done it without them. Rather, it was to give them a means by which to strive for spiritual perfection, by running to give. However, the leaders failed by trying to complete the building instead of figuring out how to complete themselves, missing the point that it’s not the end result but rather what you put into it.
We see this concept, too, later on in Pekudei when the Torah tells us after the completion of the Mishkan, ויביאו את המשכן אל משה. They brought the mishkan to Moshe.
Rashi relates the Midrash that says the reason they had to bring the Mishkan to Moshe was they couldn't erect it themselves. Since Moshe didn't do any of the other work in the Mishkan, Hashem left the erecting for him.
No one else was able to erect it because of the weight of the beams which ordinary man doesn't have the strength to lift. Moshe said to Hashem, how is it possible for man to lift them? Hashem said to him "you start to lift them & then it will appear as if you’re lifting them when in reality they will rise & stand by themselves.
This, says the Sefer Zichron Mayer, teaches us the importance of working hard when it comes to spiritual matters. Unlike physical matters where the work is just a means to an end, by spiritual matters it’s the work itself that counts. As the posuk says כי אדם לעמל יולד, that man was created to work and as reward for the work, one can accomplish even what couldn't be done by natural means as we saw by Moshe.
There's a story that exemplifies this concept. An old, blind talmud chacham came to Rav Issur Zalman Meltzer with some of his chidushim and said that these were the last ones he would write in his life.
When the Rav asked him to explain , he said " a short time ago I lost my eyesight. I went to the doctor who did an in depth exam & said I'm not surprised that you can't see. What I don't understand, is how you were able to see for the last ten years!
Then said the old man, I realized what the answer was. Before I became old, I used to work hard at learning Torah. I gave it all I had looking in sefarim, finding answers & developing chidushim. As I got old & weak, I thought to myself that it would be enough for me to just exercise my mind and let my body rest. I know a lot of mishnayos & gemara by heart so I will just review leisurely, not delving into the seforim as I used to. Once I came to this decision, my eyesight left me. As long as I was working hard in Torah using my eyesight to delve into the seforim, Hashem watched over me & made sure I could see. Once I decided to take it easy, I wasn't worthy of the miracle anymore.
This teaches us that if we work as hard we can, it doesn't matter if it’s impossible. We just have to try our best, work hard & then Hashem will make sure that we will be able to continue, giving us what ever we need to ensure that we have the means to accomplish!
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