Image Credit: danjaeger
We’re now in the six months of the year that the clock in my car is one hour fast. Yes, this is embarrassing, but since I installed a new CD player I haven’t been able to work out how to change the time. Yes, yes, I know - when all else fails, read the manual. Someday I will get to fixing it but let’s not get too distracted from what I’d like to share with you today.
Here’s an important tidbit: the first Mitzvah in the Torah is featured in this week’s Torah portion and it’s got to do with time. It’s the obligation to establish a calendar with months and years and to sanctify some days as festivals.
In the beginning of creation, man was charged with a G-dly mission - to “rule over the world and subdue it,” i.e. to make use of the physical creations; to invent useful machines and develop modern technology. Not as an end in itself but as a means of serving G-d; everything can be used for a higher and holier purpose.
This is true about time, too. Time is also a creation and we are charged with the mission of sanctifying and elevating it. The Jewish calendar that we follow today indicates when Jewish holidays are celebrated. This fulfills the obligation to some extent, but truthfully there is more to it.
What does it mean to sanctify time? (I know, I know, “sanctify” is one of those religious words that when people hear it, their eyes glaze over and they tune out. Please, bear with me!) Simply put, it is to set aside certain times for holy occasions: e.g. Shabbat and Jewish holidays. We treat the day differently; we dress differently, we even eat differently. We separate and elevate the day from our usual grind.
This is important, but I think there is even more to it that we can incorporate in our day to day lives. Ideally, we should be the masters of our time. We should consciously choose how to spend each day and even particular times of the day. When we plan to spend time with our family, it should be “sanctified” - nothing gets in the way. When we plan to spend some time studying Torah or praying, it should be “sanctified”.
“Sanctified” means we should turn off the phone and computer and “tune in” to the moment.
When we can maintain control over our time, when we truly master our time, we not only live a happier life, we also complete the purpose of our being in this world: we elevate the world around us by using it for a higher purpose.
Yesterday was Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the new Jewish month of Shvat. Tonight is Shabbat. When we sanctify time, when we honor time and elevate it; when we are conscious about how we spend our time, this not only affects the time which has been “sanctified,” it also changes the way we experience all time. Suddenly all our time is filled with a feeling of purpose, goodness, holiness and mitzvot.