"Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them."
"Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it."
There is an expression I often hear bandied about: "I have no time". What does that MEAN?? Everybody has time! There are 24 hours a day and 7 days a week at our disposal so what do people mean when they say they don't have time?
What they mean is "It's not important enough for me to make time for that". If it were sufficiently important, then time would be found. Some people have no time for their children because they are working. Others have no time to work because they are taking care of their children [read: women. And I SALUTE them]. Some people have no time to learn because they are busy watching TV
. Others have no time to watch TV because they are busy learning. [Others don't watch TV because they don't have one but that's another story...] Some kids have no time for homework because they are on Facebook. Others have no time for Facebook because they are doing homework [a rarity I understand]. So everybody has time but how we spend it is a function of what we consider most important or pressing.
The Jews are about to leave Egypt and Hashem gives them their very first mitzva as a nation. What does He choose? Well, if he would have asked me I would have suggested Shabbos/Shabbat. That's really Jewish and defines us as a nation. One day a week we devote to holiness. Or maybe living in Israel. That is the Jewish Homeland. Sanctity in space. But Hashem didn't consult with me [just another proof of His beyond infinite wisdom] and gave the Jews the mitzva of ... Kiddush Hachodesh. WHHHHAAAAAAT? The very first mitzva is that the court should sanctify the month, say "mekudash mekudash" this month is hereby starting. Why is that so important to start with ["firsts" are always especially significant]. And why couldn't Hashem wait with this mitzva until he gave us the Torah about two months later at Har Sinai?? Why right as we leave Egypt?
The answer is that this mitzva really defines every moment of our lives and differentiates us from the nations of the world. The mitzva of kiddush hachodesh is to SANCTIFY TIME. Every moment of our lives is holy and we must live accordingly. Until now the Jews were slaves. Slaves really DON'T have time on their hands. Every moment must be devoted to their masters. When the Jews were freed from slavery Hashem was saying "Now time is YOURS to do with it as you wish. Spend it wisely. For a Jew, time is holy". This was a message the Jews needed to hear right away. [Based on the Sforno]
Sweet friends - life is so fleeting. The present is called the present because it's a present. May we be wise enough to make time for what is really important, holy and good. May we have no time for things that distance us from the Source of all light.
Love and blessings to all and may the Good Times begin!
A Shabbos of limitless bliss and may you taste every moment of its joy.
