I keep reading that time is a construct. Meaning, we humans made it up.
Here’s how author Blake Crouch put it:
“Time is an illusion, a construct made out of human memory. There’s no such thing as the past, the present, or the future.”
I’m willing to accept that he and other experts are far smarter than I am, but I have a hard time believing them. Time feels very real to me.
I think in terms of time all the time. (See?) So do we all. We carry telephones that we use more as alarm clocks and calendars than phones. And even so, we wear watches on our wrists and have clocks on our walls, on our stoves, on our microwaves, on our dashboards. Pretty much everywhere.
We mark the ebb and flow of our lives with holidays and anniversaries, birthdays and seasons. We watch the calendar. We mark the weeks.
What is a week? Another construct. Completely made up, either by God or man, in the first chapter of Genesis. Regardless of whether you accept the Bible or have no interest in it whatsoever, you have accepted the seven day week.
We Jews have accepted other ways to mark time from the Torah. Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot all are delineated in this week’s Torah portion.
Some 3,000 years later, the Jewish community continues to observe these Biblical holidays. They guide us as we move through our lives. Each has a particular purpose and message, and each roots us in both our communities and in time. By choosing to communally mark certain dates, we acknowledge the yoke of time, and the yoke of God’s commandments.
Which brings us back to the idea of constructs. If time is a construct, what about God’s laws? What about God? Did we make all of that up too? And if so, are we really beholden to follow the commandments?
In truth, most of us indulge in pick-and-choose religious observance. We can’t help ourselves. I’m OK with keeping kosher but don’t agree with the laws prohibiting tattoos. I love observing the holidays but am incredibly relieved that we don’t sacrifice animals anymore.
I have chosen to believe in the teachings of Judaism because they help me strive to be my highest self. And I have chosen to believe in time because it gives me hope.
I hope that with time, we can figure out how to stop hating each other. I hope that Jews and Arabs can figure out how to share that tiny piece of land we call Israel. I hope that my synagogue can someday stop hiring police officers to guard us from evil-doers while we gather to pray.
And I hope that tomorrow morning I will wake up, look at my clock, and begin a new day. Because the time is now.
SRQ Jew 