In this week’s parsha we have the mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh [sanctifying the new moon], the first mitzvah Hashem gave the Jewish people as a collective nation. The Seforno suggests that this first mitzvah also included the most precious commodity of all: time, and the freedom to do with it whatever we choose. The ability to spend our time as we see fit is freedom, and control over our time is a prerequisite to doing all the other mitzvos.
Rav Avrohom Yaakov Pam symbolically suggests that the first mitzvah is not only for the Sanhedrin to sanctify the new month, but also for every Jew to sanctify every moment of his day. Just as people devote tremendous time and energy to seeking out the best investments for their money, so too should we focus on how to achieve the maximum return with the precious time that we are granted and how to wisely “invest” it in our futures. The Gemara (Chagigah 4a) defines a shoteh (crazy person who is exempt from mitzvos) as someone who throws away what he is given. If so, Rav Pam suggests that someone who adopts the American hobby of “killing time” is legally crazy.
Rav Uri Weissblum derives another insight into the importance of valuing our time from a comment of Rashi later in the parsha. Rashi (Shemos 12:17) suggests that just as the Torah commands us to guard our matzah to prevent it from becoming chometz, we must all do mitzvos with alacrity so that they do not turn into “chometz.” Rav Weissblum questions this comparison, as a person who takes too long baking matzah and eats it after it turns into chometz is liable to the penalty of kares [spiritual excision]. Although it is not commendable to delay the performance of a positive commandment, one who does so is not punished with kares. If so, how can Rashi equate the two cases?
Rav Weissblum suggests that in comparing the two laws, Rashi is teaching us that the only person considered alive is one connected to Hashem. A moment in which a person neglects the opportunity to cleave to Hashem by doing a mitzvah is considered voluntary spiritual excision, as every second of life that is not appreciated and used properly is a form of self-induced spiritual death. (R’ Ozer Alport)
