There are two definitions of נשאים: (1) The nesi'im are the leaders of the nation. Rebbe Aharon Chernobyler zt'l teaches, חזק חזק, that if a person strengthens himself and begins anew, again and again, ונתחזק, he will be helped from Heaven. He will receive strength from Heaven to improve his ways.
It states (Shemos 17:11) וְגָבַר יָדוֹ ֶׁהמֹש יָרִים ֶׁרכַּאֲש וְה ָיָה עֲמָלֵק וְגָבַר יָדוֹ יָנִיחַ ֶׁרוְכַאֲש יִשְׂרָאֵל, "It happened that when Moshe raised his hand, Yisrael was stronger, and when he lowered his hand, Amalek was stronger."
We wonder why Moshe lowered his hands in this war. When he put down his hands, Amalek became stronger, so why did he put down his hands? (Although we have no perception of Moshe Rabbeinu's greatness, we ask the question to learn lessons that are applicable for ourselves.) But it is known that the war against Amalek represents the war we fight against the yetzer hara. It is the war that every Yid fights, in every generation. The pasuk is hinting to us that the pattern of this war isn't solely successes. There are times that עֲמָלֵק וְגָבַר, Amalek becomes strong. There will be times when we will lower our hands and fail in our avodas Hashem. The pasuk is encouraging us by letting us know that this is the pattern, and it can't be changed. But if a person doesn’t lose hope, and he keeps trying to raise his hands and battle against the yeter hara, he will win the battle, in the end.
Try, and Hashem will Help
It states (Shemos 35:27), אבני את הביאו והנשיאים ולחשן לאפוד המלואים אבני ואת השהם, "The nesi'im brought the shoham stones and the [filling] stones for the eifod and for the choshen." Where did the nesi'im obtain these precious gems? Did they own them? Were they found in the desert?
Targum Yonason writes, "The clouds of glory went to Pishon and picked up precious stones...to be placed in the eifod and choshen." The Gemara elaborates (Yoma 75.): When the mon rained down from heaven, precious stones came down together with the mon. The nesi'im gathered those precious stones and donated them to the Mishkan (for the כהונה בגדי).
(2) Nesi'im also means clouds. Both definitions are correct. המלואים אבני ואת השהם אבני את הביאו והנשיאים, the clouds and the nesi'im brought the precious stones to be used for the kohen gadol's clothing.
My father zy'a told me that when he was a child living in Tel Aviv, one night there was no running water in their home. Every night, my father and his brothers would prepare negel vasser next to their beds before going to sleep, but that night, they went to sleep without preparing water. Their father, Rebbe Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zt'l, asked them, "Why didn’t you prepare negel vasser?" They replied, "We couldn’t. There's no water." "That's true," their father replied, "but why didn’t you at least place the empty negel vasser utensils near your bed?" Because a Yid must do what he can, and Hashem will help.
We learn from this the power of desire. When one yearns to serve Hashem, Hashem helps him succeed. Hashem commanded that the כהונה בגדי should be made with precious stones. Where will they get them? How can they find them in the desert? But when there's a will, Hashem helps. The ענני הכבוד delivered the stones to them.
As the Chasam Sofer zt’l (Toras Moshe, Terumah לבו ידבנו אשר) writes, "When one desires to donate, but he doesn't have enough money [Hashem will help him]. This happened to the nesi'im. They wanted to donate the stones for the kohanim's clothing, but they didn't own gems. Hakadosh Baruch Hu brought the gems to them in the clouds. When they collected the mon, they collected the gems. This teaches us that when a person desires to do something, but isn't able to... I will enable him to do so."
As the Mesilas Yesharim (19) writes, "If one asks, who am I, and how important am I really, that I should daven for [the gathering of] the galus and for Yerushalayim? Could it be that because of my tefillah, the galus will end, and the redemption will sprout? The answer is, as Chazal (Sanhedrin 37.) say, man was created alone, to demonstrate 'The world was created for me.' Hashem has pleasure when His children pray for this matter. Even if the prayers cannot be answered (because the time hasn't come yet, or because of some other reason), nevertheless, they did their share, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu is happy with them... We are obligated to pray, and we shouldn't refrain due to a lack of strength. As Chazal (Avos 2) say, ואי לגמור המלאכה עליך לא הימנה לפטר חורין בן אתה, 'You are not obligated to finish, but you don't have the right to refrain...'"
