Meditations: Rediscovering the Meaning of Rosh Hashanah
As I prepare my thoughts for Rosh Hashanah. I become aware of time. Yes, the New Year has arrived. We are blessed to have received it. It ’s true that for many of us the arrival of any New Year on some level makes us a bit anxious. Why is that?!!Time marches on …. We are all a bit older, but are we necessarily wiser? Rosh Hashanah stresses that while time is fleeting, we are ultimately accountable for how we manage and sanctify our time.
According to Jewish folklore, the city of Chelm was famous for its notoriously foolish “wise men and women” Yet, despite their foolishness, there are many wonderful pearls of wisdom in these anecdotes because, in a paradoxical sense, we are all “Chelmites.”
On one occasion the Chelmites complained about the lack of time in their lives. It seemed that they had long lists of things to do and never had time for themselves. At a town meeting, the Chelmites arrived at what appeared to be a novel solution to their dilemma–They would bargain formore Time!They all agreed to send Raizel–her bargaining skills were legendary among the Chelmites.
After she traveled to Warsaw, she met with many of the Jewish leaders and finally negotiated a fixed price for a large shipment of time that would be sent by a train to Chelm. The shipment of time was late. Well, actually, it never arrived.
All the townspeople were complaining; they didn’t know what to do.
One day Beryl, the mayor’s uncle, came to visit and found everyone waiting in the town square. When the Chelmites told Beryl what they were waiting for, he began to laugh. “Foolish people,” he said, “You cannot buy time. You can only use what time you have. Someone has taken advantage of you because you have tried to buy something that cannot be sold.”
There is something more important than the measurement and control of time; how we spiritually utilize our time is also of great importance.
The Chelm story teaches us an important truth: time cannot be bought; it can only be consciously used; therefore, make time count.
In the words of the Psalms, “Teach us to number our days so that we might obtain a heart of wisdom”
Consider the average lifespan of a typical American:
Some years ago, a statistician wrote an interesting article containing how we as a nation usually spend our time. Pause — A 70‑year life span is spent according to this estimate:
Sleep ……… 23 years …………… 32.9%
Work ………. 16 years …………… 22.8%
TV ………… 8 years ……………. 11.4%
Eating …….. 6 years …………… 8.6%
Travel …….. 6 years …………… 8.6%
Leisure ….. 4.5 years …………… 6.5%
Illness ……. 4 years …………… 5.7%
Dressing …… 2 years …………… 2.8%
Religion …… 1/2 year …………… .7%
According to another statistical report, the average person in our country usually spends no less than 10% of his time worrying about the future! Despite our penchant for daydreaming, the simple truth is most us never live to realize our dreams because we are not living in the immediate present! Read more…