Today! – Parshat Vaetchanan 

One of the highlights of the high holiday prayers is right near the end of Musaf. There is a song in which each line starts with the word 'Hayom', (lit. today). It is usually sung in a fast-paced, upbeat tune and the word Hayom is often repeated. And the song is simply referred to as 'Hayom', 'Today'.

When a word is repeated in the Torah, there is a reason. And when a word is oft-repeated within a particular portion, it is being highlighted and emphasized. So, when the word Hayom appears a number of times in this week's parsha, Parshat Vaetchanan,1 (8 times at last count) I start asking questions. What is the significance of the word and what is its takeaway? Reb Tzadok HaCohen, the great 19th century sage, speaks of the concept of how we use our time. Usually, the words 'sanctity of time' refer only to Shabbat and the Jewish Holidays. Reb Tzadok adds that though that may be true, the six days between any two Sabbaths are worthy of sanctity as well.2 And that is specifically our challenge - how to sanctify our days and indeed our entire lives.

The importance of how we use time is a measure of how we understand our purpose here and that our time here is limited. If we have a project to finish by a certain date, we sometimes need to rearrange our priorities to make sure that we finish on time. If we have an understanding of time, then our priorities are easier to organize, including how we use our leisure or vacation time. Then we can responsibly build a meaningful life.

Interestingly, when diagnosing a person for dementia and their ability to make responsible decisions, one of the parameters used to make that diagnosis is the person's sense of time. If there is an understanding of the passage of time, ie.'what day is today', 'when is night', 'when is day', 'what year is it', then it is easier for us to determine the cognitive abilities of the person. If a person can still have a sense of time then we also assume that he has a certain amount of responsibility towards how that time is filled and how he makes decisions in general. In living a life in which the main motivation is the search for meaning,3 we are called forth to show what we deem important for us and what we invest in.

One of the best quotes on the internet is: "Yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present."4

At every moment in time we have the ability to take advantage of our lives, use the time we have, whether long or short, and 'sanctify' it – not necessarily by grandiose actions but by the small things; by helping others, investing in a relationship, studying, relaxing, exercising, searching for your conscience, whatever – and, finally, to be proud of how we use that time.

And do that "Today".

Notes

  1.  Devarim chapters 4-7 
  2.  Machshavot Charutz 8
  3.  Frankl, Viktor, Man's Search for Meaning
  4.  Bil Keane. Click on his name for the source

Have A Great Shabbat!laughing

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