Rabbi's Corner

Beginning on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, on the eighth day of the inauguration of the Mishkan, the Wilderness Tabernacle, the leader of each of the twelve Tribes of Yisrael brought up a specific set of offerings, one tribe per day for twelve days.  All twelve offerings were identical in number, weight, and measurements.  These offerings are detailed in this week's parashah, Parashat Nasso.  The question that must be asked is this: why the detailed repetition?  What is the point?  Perhaps we can look to the National Basketball Association (the NBA) for the answers to these questions.

Swish!  Stephen Curry nailed another crowd-pleasing, off-balanced 3-point shot with what appeared to the crowd to be little effort expended by the superstar.  Having broken the NBA record by making no fewer than 402 3-point shots in a single season, Curry has been called the greatest shooter in NBA history, perhaps even greater than the legendary Michael Jordan.  When asked how he manages to get the basketball through the hoop with such uncanny accuracy while under such intense pressure to score, he said this: "There is not one shot I take during the game that I have not already shot during that day 60 to 70 times during practice.  I perfect the same shots over and over and over again training the muscles in my fingers and hands to coordinate in unison.  When I throw the ball up with 2 seconds left on the shot clock, I am not merely throwing the ball into the air.  I am actually taking the same shot that I have taken many times before.  In fact, as soon as the ball rolls off my fingers, I can close my eyes and know that the ball will go in the basket."  So, what Stephen Curry is saying is that to be a good basketball player, one needs to practice the same shots over and over again.  To be a good guitarist, one must practice the same scales on the guitar over and over again.  And to be a good Jew, one needs to perform the same mitzvot over and over again.

The Rambam (Maimonides) writes that good character traits do not come to a person by the performance of only one major good deed.  Good character traits come to a person either by doing the same good deed or by doing many smaller good deeds over and over again.  It is precisely that repetition of doing a good deed that elevates us, that refines our character, that creates for us a stronger and more powerful connection to HaShem.  Just remember: practice makes perfect!