At first Avraham feared that he wouldn’t have any,

but then God promised, “Your children will be many.”

God said that despite suffering from bruises, wounds and scars,

they would never be destroyed, they’d be numerous like stars.

After all they endured they would come back and be more,

they would be large in number like the sand on the shore.

In two different ways, Avraham was told we’d be great,

like sand and stars, large numbers would be our fate.

Are there two different points that these metaphors say?

Yes, there’s a deeper message here, a duality at play:

Grains of sand blend together, you can’t pick out just one.

They are a cohesive unit that can’t be undone.

But stars, although they’re many, each shine alone,

you can point to one and give it a name all its own.

So too, Avraham’s descendants always have two sides,

cogs in a machine/individuals undenied.

We are each our own star with an irreplaceable shine,

and also as a nation, there’s a role we are assigned.

May we all reach our potential as stars and as sand,

and, in each position, fulfill our mission as planned.

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].