THE ECONOMICS OF TIME

                                

                       

Do you believe that only famous people have a unique purpose?  Do you think that only larger-than-life personalities have a raison d’etre, and you do not? You might want to reconsider those attitudes, for we all have a Divine purpose – a G-d given, soul driven mission in this world which we may have intuited as a child and experienced through our identification with great people. That secret yearning, to strive to reach ones ultimate potential, is an intuitive message from our souls (neshoma) encouraging us to be that special someone.

 

In order to achieve this lofty goal we not only need to refine ourselves but it is most conducive to structure our surroundings with supernal cues that remind us of our true purpose and highest aspirations. The third essential “ingredient” is the elusive “dimension” of time. Just like space can be measured, so also time can be measured by the amount of cerebral ticks of our minds as they synchronize with pulse beat of our desires. Time is not just an invention of convenience for personal scheduling but has been given by The Creator to help us define the spatial reality of the Jewish year. Like each room in a house, which each serves a unique purpose and function as designed by its architect and constructed by its builders, how much more so are the coordinates of time, which can be perceived as an ethereal “structure” that have an on the sight Architect and His wise talented “builders” (the Sages) who have authorization to synchronize our calendar with the Heavenly timelines. So let us take an opportunity to focus on the use and value of our precious time.

               When we learn how to manage our time so as to prioritize our tasks and put our service of the Creator (Hashem) first and foremost, then we receive our “promotions”, but first we are tested in using our time well.  Although each of the calibrations on the clock is evenly spaced and the hands of the clock travel at a uniform speed, time is not objective and homogeneous, but subjective, varied  and  responsive to our attitudes and moods.  This flexibility gives us an opportunity to make a meaningful choice:  We can consider time to be  a vessel  that can hold a collection of  golden eternal currency or see it as merely a container for storing the ephemera of a mundane existence.  We are all capable of transforming time by converting it from an earthly time piece into a G-d given gift that can be used as the vehicle for achieving eternal holiness in our lives.  

Each one of us has the most desirable of all possible goals for which to strive towards – those being specified good deeds known as mitzvoth which are instruments of eternality. These precious “gifts of opportunity” bestowed upon us by the Creator are embedded within even the most “mundane” task and activity, just ready to transform it into one of overarching   importance. 

Mitzvoth are not only limited to great and heroic community projects but  any act  can be done in service of Hashem when it is done for the right reasons in the correct way.

When  we attempt to realign our priorities, there is one force that will not be happy.  Our negative inclination (yetzer hara) will use all of its wiles to dissuade us from our goals, which is often an easy task, since the array of opportunities for misaligning  time is seemingly endless. [1]   Thus our first step in this process is to ask Hashem for help in refining and maximizing the use of our precious time. The Sages inform us that we need only move in the right direction, creating an opening as small as the size of a pin hole, for the Creator to then  open for us opportunities the size of the doors of  the Holy Temple (Bais HaMigdash) in Jerusalem, may it be built soon in our days.

Watch an expert packing a suitcase.  He or she will be able to put more in and get it to close more smoothly then we ever could have imagined.  Our days are like that suitcase in that, throughout each day, we are given opportunities to find corners and crevices of time that are just right for certain activities.

And where is all of this leading?  After we have practiced these techniques for a while, we may truly appreciate that each minute of life and opportunity is precious thereby always being inspired to fill that time in meaningful ways with a positive attitude. Through striving to fulfill ones unique abilities our inner creative energy will come bursting forth with joy and dedication. Priorities will then align themselves almost naturally and intuitively and the time we devote to our good deeds will often be expressed in minutes salvaged from the corners and crevices of that “suitcase” we spoke of earlier and placed into the service of Hashem to fulfill His purpose for us in this world. May we merit this blessing soon in our days.



[1] .  Indeed, the Sages tell us that the main stumbling block of even the greatest righteous people (tzaddikim) were rooted in the miscalculation of  time.  This sin of Adam and Chava was not that they ate from the Tree of Knowledge, but that they ate from the Tree of Knowledge at the wrong time. The Sages explain that had they waited until  Shabbos, the Creator would have given them permission to eat from this tree. Likewise, King David was judged for marrying Bas Sheva before  the Heavenly designated time.

 

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia

KEYING INTO PACHIM KETANIM – PARSHAS VAYISLACH

       After Yaakov and his family crossed the Yabok River, Yaakov returned  to retrieve pachim ketanim — small flasks. There, the Sar of Esau confronted him; what followed was the definitive battle for supremacy between the forces of good and evil. This battle continued to rage throughout the night until finally, Yaakov emerged victorious at which point he was informed of what his new name would become.

           The stage was set for this momentous battle by Yaakov’s interest in recovering some small flasks. What could the Torah be hinting to when it informs us that the pachim were small? What relevance does their size have to the lessons in this episode?

             Although many people assume that “bigger is better”, sometimes we find that very low-key events or small items actually are the “key” to accessing new horizons of achievement and success.

             A key is a relatively small and inexpensive item, but it serves to open important doors. Without one’s keys a person could find oneself without entry into ones own home, car or office.

                Like keys that open physical doors, the words of holy Torah open mental and spiritual portals, therefore let us try to “key-in” on the meaning of the name uttered by the Sar of Esau when he announced: “No longer will it be said that your name is Ya’akov, but YiSRAL, for you have striven with the Divine and with man and have overcome.” (Vayishlach 32:29). 

         The Creator entrusted the “key” to insights and wisdom embodied in our holy Torah to Avraham Avinu. This tradition (“key”) was handed down to his son Yitzchok, who later gave it to his son Yaakov. Apparently at that time since the Bnei Yaakov were beginning their transition from a single family into a nation of millions, it was deemed the appropriate time for the Creator in His infinite wisdom to, so to speak, design within the developing Bnei Israel a tamperproof supernal combination lock for the Torah that only the Jewish people could access.

              What is this mystical combination code that binds us with our unbroken tradition all the way back to the Avos? We know that a person’s name reveals his or her spiritual essence, purpose and potential. Therefore it behooves us to unlock one of the deeper meanings within the name given by the Creator to the entire Jewish nation as well as this same name given for our holy land. The Ari Z’l  reveals in a few short words one of the mystical secrets of our national name by informing us that the five (osios) letters of the name Y’SRAL are the acronym – roshei teivos – of the names of our three Avos and four Imahos: The Yud of  Yitzchak and Yaakov is coded within the Yud of Y’SRAL; the S of Sarah within the Shin; the R of Rivka and Rachael within the Raish, the A of Avraham within the Alef and the L of Leah within the Lamed. Imbedded with our Nation’s name and the name of our land is the spiritual genetic combination of all our Avos and Imahos! The name Y’sral, the “key” – combination code – to our existence is an example of a single word in the Torah that contains worlds of meaning and value. 

         May we, the Bnei Y’sral, soon merit the final geula allowing all of us to once again live peacefully in our promised land – Eretz Israel.

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia