The first pasuk of Shemini has a funny thing to say,

it says the Mishkan was opened 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,

then, after those, comes “opening day.”

The exhibition season may have a long run,

but “opening day” is still day number one.

So why is the Mishkan’s first day called “day number eight?”

What does this teach us about our life and our fate?

We see that preparation days that come before,

count as much as opening day, maybe even more.

Like our ancestors before us, 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 becoming ourselves one day,

we build a foundation, that’s the Torah way.

Preparation can sometimes seem like a bore,

but nothing great happens without effort put in before.

May we be blessed to appreciate the reason and the rhyme,

of how now forms the basis for the results of a later time.

Rabbi Neil Fleischmann, an ordained rabbi from RIETS, has taught Torah for over 30 years, primarily at The Frisch School, where he coached the award-winning poetry team. As an integral part of the Yeshiva Poetry Society, Fleischmann is a passionate advocate for the arts within the Torah world. He was named New York’s funniest rabbi and has performed stand up comedy, as well as presenting as scholar in residence, across the city and country. His literary work includes the haiku collection, “In The Field,” and he has contributed close to 20 poems to the “Stories of Our Lives” anthologies, parts 1 and 2. Currently, Fleischmann is working on a book of parsha poems that combines meaningful content with whimsical formatting. You can reach him at [email protected].