The central mitzvah we receive in Parshas Bo, and the first mitzvah given to Klal Yisrael as a nation, is Kiddush HaChodesh.
(Although the Yerushalmi, based on the opening of Parshas Va’eira, suggests that Shiluach Avadim came first.)
At its core, Kiddush HaChodesh is not about astronomy or calendars. It is about the creation of time. Time is not something we merely experience; it is something we are meant to sanctify, shape, and use with intention.
THE MASHAL OF RAV NOACH WEINBERG
Rav Noach Weinberg zt”l once gave a mashal that is more relevant today than ever, especially in the age of smartphones. Imagine you’re on a bus from Yerushalayim to Tel Aviv. You sit next to a pleasant-looking fellow. Five minutes into the ride, he opens the window, takes out a five-dollar bill, and throws it out. Five minutes later, another five dollars. Again. And again. Very quickly, you’re ready to strangle him.
Rav Noach said that money is worth far less than what people throw away all day long: time. And yet we “kill time” casually, constantly, without batting an eye.
The Vilna Gaon, near the end of his life, calculated how many minutes he had wasted. If that’s the accounting of the Gra, what would our cheshbon look like? Minutes per hour, hours per day?
Rav Noach called this “suicide on the installment plan.”
WE ARE ALL GEIRIM
I was recently learning a daily video from the Pele Yoetz on the topic of ger, a convert. He explains that we should all view ourselves as geirim in this world — strangers, temporary residents. This fits beautifully with what Rav Zilberstein shlit”a says in the name of the Sefer HaChinuch. When a stranger walks into a shul and feels out of place, there is a mitzvah of ahavas hager to make him feel at home. Not only converts — anyone who feels like they don’t belong.
Because, in truth, none of us fully belong here. We are guests in this world, passing through. We are not here to build a permanent residence. This world is a corridor to the next world, and everything physical is meant to be used as a tool to reach that destination.
Luxury and constant pleasure, at best, are distractions, unless they are consciously used in avodas Hashem.
EVERY SECOND IS ETERNAL
The Vilna Gaon, moments before leaving this world, held onto his tzitzis and began to cry. When asked why, he said, “In the next world, you can no longer do mitzvos. Here, even one small moment, one simple mitzvah creates eternal reward.”
Time is not just precious. Time is an irreversible opportunity.
THE YETZER HARA AND THE THEFT OF PRESENCE
There is a subtle way the yetzer hara steals time — not through sin, but through absence. We are pulled into regret over the past: “If only I had...” Or fantasy about the future: “When I become this, when things change, then I’ll really start living.” And in the process, the only place avodah can happen—the present moment—slips away.
אהיה אשר אהיה – THE POWER OF NOW
This idea is hinted at in the conversation between Moshe Rabbeinu and Hashem at the burning bush. Hashem reveals His Name: אהיה אשר אהיה, “I will be with you now and in the future.” Moshe responds that the focus should be on the now, and Hashem agrees.
There is deep meaning here. The power of אהיה is presence—the awareness that whatever is happening right now is Heaven-sent and meaningful.
The Chasam Sofer, quoted in the opening pages of שו״ת חתם סופר חלק א׳, shares a fascinating tradition. Rav Shimon Sofer showed a talmid chacham named Pesachya a handwritten note from his grandfather, the Chasam Sofer, stating that the Ramban revealed himself to him and explained:
“אהיה אשר אהיה” means “I will be with whoever wants Me to be with them.” Hashem’s presence is available, but we must choose it, moment by moment.
UNDERSTANDING DIFFICULTY—LATER
Rabbeinu Bachye, at the end of Parshas Shemos, addresses Moshe’s words:
“ומאז באתי אל פרעה... הרע לעם הזה”
It sounds like a complaint, but Rabbeinu Bachye explains it as a profound question: Why do the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper?
Hashem teaches Moshe a lifelong lesson. When things get difficult — and even worse — don’t be swayed. There is an exact cheshbon. The wicked receive less reward later; the righteous receive more.
And Rabbeinu Bachye adds: Everything that happened during Yetzias Mitzrayim will repeat itself during the final Geulah.
SEEING ONLY THE BACK
When Moshe asks Hashem, “הראני נא את כבודך,” Hashem responds: “You will see My back, but not My face.”
The Chasam Sofer explains that some stages in life, especially the darkest ones, can only be understood retroactively. Even Moshe Rabbeinu could not see the good in every moment.
But when Mashiach comes, Chazal say (Pesachim 50a), we will make a brachah on what once felt bad and say Hatov V’hameitiv.
A DREAM OF THE FUTURE
A woman once shared with me a vivid dream that took place on Yom Kippur. She was with her husband and children at a pool. Suddenly, the sky grew bright. The pool became a lake, and sharks began swimming toward the children. Her husband said calmly, “Don’t worry — it’s Yemos Hamashiach. They won’t be harmed.”
Later, she saw her husband separating challah. Surprised, she asked why. He answered, “Until now, the wife did this to fix the sin of Chava. Now the husband does it.”
Then a poor man knocked on the door. She said, “I thought there wouldn’t be poor people when Mashiach comes.” He replied, “It’s a process.” He went to the china closet, took out a becher, and gave it to the poor man. “Money won’t be hard to get anymore.”
REDEEMING TIME—EVEN RETROACTIVELY
On Erev Shabbos, I received an interesting shaylah. A wife had prepared dough for challah, stepped out, and her husband—trying to help— told their bar mitzvah son to separate a piece so she could “save time.”
When she came home, there was a problem: the brachah must be made before the separation. This is a major machlokes among the poskim, the Minchas Yitzchak, Rav Elyashiv, the Steipler, and others.
Lema’aseh, I gathered the husband and sons and formed a beis din of three. We were matir the husband’s hafrasha of challah, allowing the separation of challah to be redone properly.
Sometimes, Torah allows us to repair time retroactively. And maybe that itself is the message of Kiddush HaChodesh: Time is fragile. Time is holy. And when we choose presence — when we choose Hashem — even time can be redeemed.
RABBI DANIEL COREN
