The parsha begins, “And it was on the eighth day...” [Vayikra 9:1] To which eighth day is the Torah referring? The Torah is discussing the “eighth day” after the previous seven, during which the Jewish People performed the Seven Days of Inauguration offerings. It was a “Chanukas HaBayis” [inaugural dedication], so to speak, for the Mishkan [Tabernacle], with Moshe Rabbeinu acting as the Kohen Gadol [High Priest].
The “eighth day” referred to in the above quoted pasuk [verse] was the day when Aharon took over from Moshe, and the Mishkan began functioning in its normal way with the kohanim performing the services.
Rav Dovid Feinstein notes that it is peculiar that the Torah refers to this occasion as the “eighth” day. It was really the “first” day. The first seven days were merely a dry-run rehearsal. Every day, they put up the Mishkan and then took it down, and the Shechinah, the Divine Presence, did not rest within it. This was the real “Day One” of the functioning of the Mishkan, when the Shechinah came down [9:23], yet the Torah insists on calling it the “eighth day.” The Torah emphasizes the previous seven days, nonetheless, even calling the whole parsha “Shemini” (meaning eighth). What message is the Torah giving us?
He suggests that the Torah is teaching us the following important lesson: In spiritual matters, preparation is almost as important as the real thing. If the Torah had called this “Day One,” it would have been sending the message that all the preparation was merely practice. That may be how it works in worldly affairs but not regarding matters of spirituality (ruchniyus). Preparation is vital for spiritual matters. Preparations place the mitzvah in its proper perspective. Therefore, the Torah emphasizes that this is Day Eight, not Day One.
At a siyum marking the conclusion of a tractate of Talmud, we say, “We toil in our tasks (of learning), and they toil (in worldly tasks). We work and receive reward, and they work and do not receive reward.” What does this really mean? Those who work are paid for their work. What does it mean “they work and do not receive reward”? The answer is that in other areas of life, a person only receives reward if he completes the task, if he is successful in his endeavor. A person is only paid for producing. It is not the effort or preparation that counts; it is the results: “What’s the bottom line?”
Regarding matters of spirituality, however, if a person attempts to do a mitzvah but does not achieve the end result, the person still receives reward.
So, too, regarding the Mishkan. The months of preparation and the Seven Days of Inauguration offerings are not merely past events that are forgotten on “Day One.” The effort of that preparation will pay off. There will be reward for it.
We toil and receive a reward. “Opening Day” is already “Day Eight” because all the thought and preparation that led up to that day also play a very important role in G-d’s calculations.
RABBI YISSACHAR FRAND
