Shmini Poem*

The first pasuk of Shmini has a funny thing to say
It says the Mishkan was opened for use on the eighth day
That statement says an untrue sounding thing
Which has about it an awkward ring
In baseball there are exhibition games they play
And after all these comes Opening Day
The exhibition season may have a long run
But opening day is still Number One
So why is the Mishkan's first day called Number Eight?
What does this teach us about our life and our fate?
The preparation days that came before
Count as much as the opening day- maybe more
Like the Chafetz Chaim** and Eisenhower*** we have to grow and change
We have to look at our middot and rearrange
This doesn't happen in one shot
It can't be done on the spot
Preparation is key to become ourselves one day
We build a foundation- that's the Torah way

*I am grateful to Rabbi Eli Ciner, my principal, who presented the ideas of this David Brooks essay to the freshman class during minyan this morning, and also spoke about Rav Hutner's letter and its comment about the Chafetz Chaim, both of which I worked into this edition of my weekly parsha poem at the minyan.

**See here

***See here