כלי יקר — והנשאם הביאו את אבני השהם

Q — Why is 'והנשאם' written defective — missing the יו"ד — and why specifically the yud rather than any other letter?

A — Kli Yakar connects the missing letter to a missing midah. The נשיאים had reasoned: 'we'll bring whatever the public falls short of' — a calculation that secretly contained הגאווה ('מי ימלא מה שאנחנו מחסרים?!'). When the public's contribution actually sufficed, only stones remained — the smallest task. The missing letter encodes the missing humility: *yud* is the only letter of Hashem's Name that appears in נשיאים. Hashem withdrew specifically that letter — 'אין כאן מקומו' — because, as Chazal say, 'כל אדם שיש בו גסות הרוח, אמר הקב"ה אין אני והוא יכולין לדור בעולם' (Sotah 5a). The orthography is the rebuke.