Every moment counts so don’t kill your time
There is no place that we see the value of time more poignantly than the Olympics.
It’s time to talk about time!
Most of us may loosely remark that time is precious, but in modern society, time is frequently devalued. Many in the younger generation view “time” as expansive, stretching out before them. Conversely, many in their twilight years lament that their prime has passed and spend days attempting to merely pass the time.
There is an idiom for this – “killing time”. At every age and stage, with technology at our fingertips, hours can fly by mindlessly on smartphones or via the remote control flipping through hundreds of channels.
From a Jewish perspective, killing time is equal to murder – except that when you kill time, you are both the perpetrator and the victim simultaneously! Time is one of the most treasured commodities we have and there is a limited amount allocated to each of us. We can’t control it and every passing second, like it or not, we come closer to emptying our allotted account.
Through a Jewish prism, each moment of our lives is valued and we have the choice to fill our time with positive pursuits. We can consciously help others, challenge our minds, develop our souls, care for our bodies, or connect with family and friends. On the flip side, each minute can also be squandered, devoid of meaning.
There is no place that we see the value of time more poignantly than the Olympics. The difference between being celebrated or forgotten can be a millisecond.
Inspired by these awesome athletes, we can find the time we didn’t think we had to pursue noble endeavours and go on to achieve our goals, aspirations and dreams.
A perplexed Jew once asked Rav Yisroel Salanter, “If I only have 15 minutes a day to learn, should I focus on Chumash, Talmud, the Prophets or Jewish law?”
Rav Yisroel wisely answered: “Learn Mussar (character development) and you will realise that you have much more than 15 minutes a day to learn”.
As someone once pointed out: to realise the value of one minute – ask the person who missed the train.
To realise the value of one second – ask the person who has survived an accident.
To realise the value of one millisecond – ask the person who won silver in the Olympics.
Let’s embrace every moment irrespective of whether we are in or out of a COVID lockdown!
Levi Wolff is rabbi of Central Synagogue, Sydney.
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