Somehow, we seem to hear the clock ticking louder in Elul, as
the final countdown of the year nudges closer to zero
hour.
I was invited to my daughter's graduation ceremony one
morning and arrived on time. The principal was there and some
of the staff, as were some of the students with their
mothers. Admittedly, many seats were still unoccupied, but I
saw no reason to delay the commencement of the proceedings.
In any case, we finally started three quarters of an hour
later. I had to leave early, as I had other things planned
for later on in the day, but left with a bitter taste in my
mouth. Why had they not started on time, even if the hall was
not completely full? Why have we succumbed to these
disturbing tendencies? Thus complains a busy
mother.
Did I say tendencies? Just so. Nevertheless, all is not lost.
There are still many events which run to timetables and exact
times, and the public knows that they have to abide by them.
A bus which runs infrequently; the bank; a flight; you cannot
take liberties with time. If someone arrives only a few
minutes late, he will learn a lesson the hard way for the
future.
Someone once told me, "I will never forget that wedding. The
invitation was for 6:00 prompt. Knowing what `prompt' means,
I reckoned that if I arrived between 7:30 and 8:00, like for
most weddings, I would come at the beginning of the meal, or
at the end of the chuppa. To my amazement, when I got
there, they had finished bentching. I knew that there
was no playing with time when the other children of that
family got married.
"What a waste of time" has become a figure of speech in our
day and age. Perhaps because it is used so frequently, we
don't realize the true significance of its meaning. Time is
our most precious possession and resource. It is invaluable.
Once a second has passed, it will never return. The
damage we do by wasting time is irreversible.
We say about someone who has lived for many years that he is
"getting on in days." We wish people arichas yomim,
long days, and not long years. That is because each day in a
person's life has a purpose. Once a day has gone, it will not
return, so we have to use it to its full extent. Let us
imagine someone who is critically ill, fighting for life. His
heart has stopped beating but the doctors try resuscitation,
sparing no effort, time or expense. To what purpose? Perhaps
to prolong his life for even a short time. Then, lo and
behold, they witness a medical marvel. Their efforts paid
off, the patient recovers completely and leaves the hospital
to go home. What will they think of him if he now wastes his
time and even looks for ways to "kill time?"
Is it an exaggeration to say that wasting time is comparable
to deliberate suicide? We have explained that life consists
of individual seconds, each of which has a purpose. Throwing
away these seconds, minutes or hours, is throwing away life:
suicide. A quarter of an hour here, two precious hours wasted
on some complicated piece of bureaucracy. An interminable
wait which is forced on us through no fault of our own: all
these situations could have been put to better use. Man
worries about losing money but does not worry about losing
time. Money comes and goes, time just goes.
In Kelm, there used to be a mussar shiur lasting just
five minutes. Apart from the actual knowledge gained in the
shiur of such short duration, they also learned that
five minutes which are normally of little account, gained
them eternal values.
They tell that R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt'l once
ordered a taxi and was kept waiting for ten minutes. He
complained that he had wasted ten minutes of his life. Ten
minutes which were irreplaceable. When his shiur once
began at 9:05, he complained, "This shiur was meant to
begin at 9:00. In five minutes, once can achieve a great
deal." R' Reuven Bengis made a siyum on Shas which he
had learned by using all the precious "odd five minutes"
which usually go to waste.
Although women have no obligation to learn, our time is also
precious. We waste a tremendous amount of time in doctors' or
dentists' waiting rooms. Some women take their mending,
others prepare lessons or mark notebooks, others say
Tehillim. At least they are not wasting time.
The telephone was invented as a useful tool to save time. But
gradually, it has become a great instrument for a chat, and
takes up much of our attention. If we reckon all the minutes
which we spend on the phone unnecessarily, it comes to an
awful lot of time! Nowadays, there is the cordless phone, or
one with a long flex, where women can move freely and
continue their work while talking. A true saving, in both
sense of the word!
If time is life, then if we assign some time for a particular
purpose, we are giving our life to that purpose. This is
besides investing money. They say time is money and a person
spends time earning money. According to this, when people are
particular about time, they are acting in a responsible way.
So how can one waste other people's time, i.e. stealing part
of their lives which can never be replaced?
Sometimes it is not "only" taking time from others. For
instance, many women depend on babysitters. The babysitter is
late and this can give rise to a whole chain of events: A
missed appointment or arriving late for a dentist's
appointment which makes all his appointments for the rest of
the day late.
The public is composed of individuals, individuals make
families, and families constitute the public. Each individual
is responsible for himself. Perhaps we could arrive at a
situation where many individuals decide to respect time, and
sooner or later, the public as a whole keeps tabs on time,
and those who do not march on time would be the odd ones out
and feel uncomfortable if they arrive late?
