On the Hebrew Sanctification of Time and on Constructing Identity
Haim Pereg
"This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you".
"Rabbi Joshua Ben Levi said: What does this resemble? A king who had a timepiece and could know what time of day it was by looking at it. When his son was of age, he said to him: My son, until now this timepiece was in my possession; from now on it is bequeathed to you. Thus the holy One, blessed be He, would once sanctify months and leap years; when the People of Israel stood before Him, he said to them: Until now the accounting of months and years was in my hands, from now on it is bequeathed to you, as it is said: This month...for you."
Midrash Tanhuma (Buber), Bo, section 12.
The biblical text and the Aggadic Midrash of the Emoraic Rabbi Tanhuma Bar Abba for the Bo portion of the Book of Exodus tell, in a nutshell, the entire story of Hebraic time. Hebraic time is the central life pulse of the Jewish people, community, family, and individual, without which Hebraic life would not be possible. The Midrash hints at the generosity of the Almighty, who knowingly forfeited one of the controlling components in the nation's life, and granted a father's special gift to His beloved son – the invaluable gift of time.
The nation's Hebraic time begins its count from the moment of Israel's exodus from Egypt – its founding event. By the very act of granting Israel the timepiece at this precise moment, G-d transmits an important message to the nation He has chosen, a message whose overt cosmic dimension is the New Moon of Nissan and the lengthening of daylight time that together affect the awakening of nature and flora and the nation's awakening from slavery to the Jewish Spring – the physical act of leaving Egypt.
One must close one's eyes in order to comprehend the meaning of this moment: Why did the Lord choose to command this commandment at this particular time? Why did the Passover commandment that follows exactly ten verses below not suffice?
Moses' threat of the tenth and most terrible plague – the plague of the firstborns, the last one preceding the greatest exodus of all times – is about to materialize in the halls of Pharaoh's palace. During the "ceasefire" taking place between the ninth and tenth plague, during the definitively last moment between slavery and freedom, G-d's commandment is declared. Is it a consolation offered to dispel the deep misgivings at leaving the paradigm of slavery and paganism familiar to the nation? Is it a gesture meant to provide hope? It might or might not be so, but this reading teaches us that freedom means Man taking responsibility for himself and for his fate, which may be the reason for which it is the first commandment in our Book of Books. It is a first lesson in leadership and responsibility, and that was G-d's intent – to teach the nation that the Exodus from Egypt acts upon not only physical aspects but includes a deep mental essence of enormous responsibility, at the heart of which is anchored the unique Hebraic time that will, from here onward, delineate its life journey.
"If the beginnings of our months and the festivals that depend on them were precisely connected to planetary and astronomical time spans in such a way that the lunar cycle would, of itself, entail the dates and events, we and our Deity would have to conform, as it were, to the blind determinism that controls natural processes. Thus, the New Moon event would have been a significant support of the paganism inherent in the ritual of nature." (Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, in his commentary on Parshat Bo, from his commentary of the Pentateuch)
This commandment goes much farther than the simple fable of "bequeathing the timepiece". It is not about the mere knowledge of the cosmic dimension and of natural phenomena; it principally concerns the understanding of Man's place in this system and his stewardship ability, resulting from his central positioning in the cosmos and in nature, and from the simultaneous renewal of Man and time. It is the laying of the cornerstone in the creation of a shared time whose implications on the continuous structuring of a collective identity are much deeper than that of the physical gift. It suffices to examine this through the way monthly cycles are established - not by cosmic or idolatrous forces but by Man, who sets time and adapts it to his world. Freedom in Man's hands!
The Almighty lays the cornerstone in the founding of the nation – establishing Hebraic time, and spiritual and psychological time alongside it, two components that are clear indications of the role of time in the founding of a nation. Our role, as educators and facilitators in schools, is to indicate the connection etched between Hebraic time and individual and collective identity.
Haim Pereg, facilitator, Maarag Program – Award for Excellence in Jewish, Zionistic and Civic Education, Kol Israel Haverim
