Of the nesi'im had their own reasons." The Ramban gives examples of the different reasons each nasi had for the same korban.
13. A person certainly shouldn't copy others because every person has their own path in avodas Hashem.
It states (Mishlei 22:6), ממנה יסור לא יזקין כי גם דרכו פי על לנער חנוך, "Train the youth according to his way, so when he is old, he will not abandon it."
The Vilna Gaon zt'l writes, “A person can't change how he was born. If a person was born with a bad nature, he has free will to use his tendencies to be either a tzaddik, a rasha, or a בינני. As the Gemara teaches, 'A person born in the mazal of maadim has the nature of spilling blood... He will either be a mohel, a shochet, or a thief.' He has a compulsion to spill blood, but he has freedom of choice to choose to be a tzaddik and to use his tendency for a mitzvah, to be a mohel; or he can be a בינוני, a shochet; or he can choose to be a thief, someone who spills blood in its literal sense. This is the meaning of the pasuk, דרכו פי על לנער חנוך, educate a child according to his way – in accordance with his mazal and nature. Accordingly, you should educate him to do mitzvos. If you do so, he will not leave this path when he is older. But if you steer him away from his nature, he will listen to you now because he is afraid of and obeys you. But later, when he isn't under your supervision, he will leave this path because it is impossible for one to change his nature."
We are discussing a very high level, but it is something we should strive for. There are mitzvos that we do every day, and they become routine, and we must find ways to keep them new—either through imagination, improved awareness of Hashem's greatness, new intentions, or in some other way. We should always discover newness in our avodas Hashem.
It says in Koheles הבלים הבל קהלת אמר הבלים הבל הבל הכל "Futility of futilities, says Koheles. Futilities, everything is foolishness" (Koheles 1:2). The Midrash states, "The seven הבלים that Koheles mentions correspond to the seven stages of a person's life. When a child is a year old, he is like a king sitting on a throne. Everyone hugs him and kisses him. When he turns two or three, he's like a pig that sticks its feet in the dirt. When he's ten, he jumps like a goat. When he's twenty, he neighs like a horse...as he seeks to get married. After he's married, he's like a donkey [he must work hard like a donkey to bring home parnassah]. When he has children, he becomes aggressive like a dog to feed his family. When he's old, he is like a monkey. But that applies only to הארץ עמי, those who don’t study Torah. But about Torah scholars, it states (Koheles 1:3) זקן דוד והמלך; even when Dovid was old, he was a king.”
The Rebbe of Kotzk zt'l asks why the Midrash disgraces the elderly so much to call them monkeys. He answers that monkeys imitate others. When serving Hashem, one must be true to his personality, talents, and style. If he just copies what others do, he’s like a monkey.
One shouldn’t copy others, and he shouldn't copy himself, either. Instead, one should strive to make his avodas Hashem new each day.
