August 2013 | Elul 5773

When I was in my twenties, time seemed limitless. Now, with kids in high school and college, and one serving in the Israeli army, I measure time differently.

Rabbi Abraham Pam, cited in Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’s Haggadah, elaborates on Seforno’s interpretation of the verse containing the very first commandment to the Jewish People in the Torah, “החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים”, “This month shall be for you the beginning of the months.” He explains that the difference between a slave and a free man lies in the control of time. A slave works until he is told to stop. A free person decides when to begin and end. Thus the first command given to the Israelites, to take control over the calendar, was an essential prelude to freedom. It taught us to learn to value time and make it holy. As is written in Psalms, “Teach us rightly to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

The value of time–how we mark it and how we use it–is seen throughout halacha and rabbinic literature. Shabbat is about creating a space in time that’s holy and separating the day from the mundane. Certainly Rosh Hashanah is a time when we reflect on how we have used the year and what we commit to do for the upcoming year.

At a recent funeral for a close friend’s father, who was a leader in his synagogue, a founding member of the community’s day school, and board member of about ten different civic associations, I was struck when hearing a pastor recount how my friend’s father had quietly established a free loan fund for black families in need, and had led the fight for racial integration in his community. He was a living example to his family and friends of using one’s time on earth wisely and intentionally, and the legacy he leaves is powerful.

How do we spend our time with our families, our children, our friends and our community? What choices do we make at work, at home and in our daily lives? This Rosh Hashanah I plan to commit to more time during the year for reflection and accounting on how I fill my time. I’m hopeful that as we usher in 5774, that the messages of Rosh Hashanah guide us to invest our time with our families, friends and communities in lives of meaning and purpose.

Shana Tova,
Debbie Niderberg
Executive Director