Organization of Time
(1) A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven: (2) A time for being born and a time for dying, A time for planting and a time for uprooting the planted; (3) A time for slaying and a time for healing, A time for tearing down and a time for building up; (4) A time for weeping and a time for laughing, A time for wailing and a time for dancing; (5) A time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones, A time for embracing and a time for shunning embraces; (6) A time for seeking and a time for losing, A time for keeping and a time for discarding; (7) A time for ripping and a time for sewing, A time for silence and a time for speaking; (8) A time for loving and a time for hating; A time for war and a time for peace.
והא אמר רב יהודה אמר רב שתים עשרה שעות הוי היום שלש הראשונות הקב"ה יושב ועוסק בתורה שניות יושב ודן את כל העולם כולו כיון שרואה שנתחייב עולם כלייה עומד מכסא הדין ויושב על כסא רחמים שלישיות יושב וזן את כל העולם כולו מקרני ראמים עד ביצי כנים רביעיות יושב ומשחק עם לויתן שנאמר (תהלים קד, כו)
Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: There are twelve hours in the day. During the first three, the Holy One, Blessed be God, sits and engages in Torah study. During the second three hours, God sits and judges the entire world. Once God sees that the world has rendered itself liable to destruction, God arises from the throne of judgment and sits on the throne of mercy, and the world is not destroyed. During the third set of three hours, the Holy One, Blessed be God, sits and sustains the entire world, from the horns of wild oxen to the eggs of lice. During the fourth three hours, God sits and makes sport with the leviathan, as it is stated: “There is leviathan, whom You have formed to sport with” (Psalms 104:26).
(9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (10) but the seventh day is a sabbath of Adonai your God: you shall not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. (11) For in six days, Adonai made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and God rested on the seventh day; therefore Adonai blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.
- Describe the differences in keeping track of time. Which one do you connect with?
- How do the different structures effect how we use our time?
How Should We Use Our Time?
The Sabbath by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
The seventh day is a palace in time which we build. It is made of soul, of joy and reticence. In its atmosphere, a discipline is a reminder of adjacency to eternity. Indeed, the splendor of the day is expressed in terms of abstentions, just as the mystery of God is more adequately conveyed via negationis, in the categories of negative theology which claims that we can never say what He is, we can only say what He is not. We often feel how poor the edifice would be were it built exclusively of our rituals and deeds which are so awkward and often so obtrusive. How else express glory in the presence of eternity, if not by the silence of abstaining from noisy acts? These restrictions utter songs to those who know how to stay at a palace with a queen.
[...] וְלֹא יְהֵא צָרִיךְ לֹא לִלְמֹד תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב וְלֹא לַעֲסֹק תָּמִיד בַּתּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה יִקְרָא בְּעִתִּים מְזֻמָּנִים תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב וְדִבְרֵי הַשְּׁמוּעָה כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יִשְׁכַּח דָּבָר מִדִּבְרֵי דִּינֵי תּוֹרָה וְיִפְנֶה כָּל יָמָיו לַגְּמָרָא בִּלְבַד לְפִי רֹחַב שֶׁיֵּשׁ בְּלִבּוֹ וְיִשּׁוּב דַּעְתּוֹ:
[...] One should read Holy Writ and traditional matters at appointed times merely so as not to forget any matter pertaining to the laws of the Torah, and turn their attention to a continuous study of Gemara, of course, in proportion to the broadness of their heart and peacefulness of their mind.
- How can we structure our time to find meaning?
- What are the ways we define what our time will be?
Time is Holy!
... וכן בכל מה שיהנה בעוה"ז לא יכוון להנאתו אלא לעבודת הבורא יתברך כדכתיב בכל דרכיך דעהו ואמרו חכמים כל מעשיך יהיו לש"ש שאפילו דברים של רשות כגון האכילה והשתיה וההליכה והישיבה והקימה והתשמיש והשיחה וכל צרכי גופך יהיו כולם לעבודת בוראך או לדבר הגורם עבודתו ...
... anything that is pleasant for someone in this world, their intent should not be for their pleasure, but rather for the service of the Creator, may God be blessed; as it is written (Proverbs 3:6), "In all of your ways, know God." And the Sages said, "Let all of your actions be for the sake of Heaven." As even optional things – such as eating, drinking, walking, sitting, getting up, sexual relations and conversation – all of them should be for the service of your Creator or for something that enables serving God...