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Parshas AchareiMotKedoshim042410:
Rabbi Uri Pilichowski
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SUMMARY: When used properly, Yom
Kippur rejuvenates, it takes an entire years
worth of time spent on means and ends
and refreshes our system. We are atoned
for sin, we start anew, and we aim for an
even more meaningful year to come. Yom
Kippur is the ultimate sabbatical from the
rat race of balancing our time trying to add
meaning to our lives. (HASC#9.2 EM)
One of our founding fathers,
Benjamin Franklin said, “Employ thy time
well, if thou meanest to get leisure.” Frank-
lin’s statement is ironic in that the goal
described by Franklin would seem to be
leisure time, yet the way to get it is through
one’s non-leisure time. We could think that
the best way to gain free time is to spend
more time being free, yet Franklin seems to
suggest the opposite. Inherently we know
Franklin to be speaking the truth; our free
time is determined by how we spend the
rest of our time.
In this essay I’d like to examine
Franklin’s lesson in time management,
We generally have the ends in
mind, in Franklin’s statement the ends are
leisure time. In our lives we can strive for
more than simply a goal of free time, more
than just bodily pleasures. We can strive
for a life of meaning. If we were to rewrite
Franklin’s advice it would read, “Employ thy
time well, if thou meanest to use it valua-
bly.” We must learn to manage our time,
both the time spent on necessary means,
and the time used for the ends of devel-
oping a relationship with God through
prayer, study and good deeds.
In our Sedra the festival of Yom
Kippur is called a Shabbat of Shabbats.
The Ibn Ezra explains that Yom Kippur is
both a Sabbath of body and soul. When
used properly, Yom Kippur rejuvenates, it
takes an entire years worth of time spent on
means and ends and refreshes our system.
We are atoned for sin, we start anew, and
we aim for an even more meaningful year
to come. Yom Kippur is the ultimate sab-
batical from the rat race of balancing our
time trying to add meaning to our lives. |
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