DVAR TORAH – BO

In today’s parsha, the Jewish people receive their first commandment.
The reckoning of the calendar according to lunar cycles introduces
Israel to formal Judaism.  "This month shall be unto you " (la-chem)
the beginning of the month (of the year)" (Exodus 1 2:2)
Chazal (sages) interpret the word la-chem, unto you, as giving the Bet
Din the authority to establish and regulate the calendar.  This
authority includes the ability to vary the length of the month and to
insert an additional month into the calendar in leap years whenever
appropriate.  In a sense, this mitzvah gives man mastery over time.
Time is literally in his hands.  He can lengthen or shorten the months
and the years.  Mastery over time has remained a human ideal.  In the
last century we have invented new ways of saving and storing time.
Our cell phones, computers, and emails permit us to transcend time
zones and the international dateline.

However, our mastery over time is an illusion.  We want instant
gratification; everything has to be done in a hurry.  The pressure to
accomplish more and more in less and less time has never been greater. Accordingly, there is a great significance in the fact that the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people preceding their freedom was to be master over their own time.  Freedom from others over us is not
complete while one remains enslaved by the expectations of time
running out on us.  We can only be free when we are able to take time
off and time out from our grueling schedules to do what is in our best
interests rather than in the interest of time.

We must find time off for family, Torah, and meditation to really be free.