"The one who brought his offering on the first day was Nachshon son of Amminadav, of the tribe of Yehuda" (7: 12).
Rashi does not deal with this point directly but quotes the sifrei (48): "he (Nachshon) did not take up a collection from among his tribe. The offering belonged to Nachshon himself. He brought it from his own property." The issue is not immediately clear; why does Rashi make this point? It seems Nachshon did the right thing. If he was directed to bring his own sacrifice, he certainly did so. Note also that Rashi does not address the phrase matte Yehuda.
The Baal Haturim does address the phrase.
"In all the other tribal sacrifices, the one who brings the sacrifice is called a prince". The only exception is Yehuda. This is because he represented a tradition of humility. This is clear from a verse in Bresheit "[Yehuda says to Yosef] …now let your servant remain in place of the youth as a servant to my lord, and let the youth go up with his brothers" (44:33).
Rashi sees in Yehuda's offer more than just a quid pro quo: Yehuda for Binyamin. Yehuda has an additional appeal: Yosef, he suggests, would profit because he, Yehuda, was more talented in all areas of endeavor. Yehuda's statement, that he wished to be "a servant to my lord", reveals that Yehuda had a quality which would enable him to be a better servant. Yehuda had humility. Baal Haturim mentions a second verse: "David was the youngest" (Shmuel I, 17:14).
He cites a gemara (megila 11a): "He [David] always considered himself the youngest (least significant). When he was young he was careful to be humble (small) before those greater than he in Torah. So too, when he became king, he remained humble before those who were greater than him in wisdom".
The gemara explains that David was "youngest" in the sense that he always saw himself as the lesser one. He was always humble and self-effacing.
On our verse, Rashi point out that Nachshon was careful to take the sacrifice from his own property because he would not impose himself on others. Baal Haturim explains that Nachshon was following the modesty tradition of the tribe of Yehuda. For this reason, Nachshon was not called a "prince" of Yehuda. He acted modestly, and the Torah alludes to his virtue.
Gut shabbos, Chaim Brovender "
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