The Torah could have simply given the details of one prince’s offering and then stated that this same offering was brought by all 12 leaders. The reason that it does not is because each prince initiated the Altar into a different way of elevating the physical world and drew a different type of spiritual energy into the world, corresponding to the spiritual nature of his tribe.
Similarly, we all recite the same words in our prayers and perform more or less the same commandments. Yet, at the same time, we are individuals. We are not only permitted to express our own individual feelings and intent in our prayers and in our performance of the commandments – we are required to do so.
Furthermore, just as the Torah repeats the same words but each time the inner meaning is different, so are we intended to bring new meaning to the actions and words that we repeat daily. Every day’s prayers and deeds should reflect the unique spiritual accomplishments we have made since the last time we prayed or performed them.1
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