Time and Freedom

Then God said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt saying: “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.”                  Exodus 12:1-2

In preparing the Children of Israel for their freedom, God presented the first mitzva given to the Israelites as a nation. My father noted the significance of the fact that this mitzva relates to time, which has neither meaning nor value to one who is enslaved. The slave cannot truly appreciate time because his time is not his own but his master’s. It is only a free person who can appreciate time. With freedom comes opportunity and responsibility: the opportunity to use time as one chooses, and the responsibility to choose those uses wisely.

In presenting our relationship to time as a mitzva, something which is obligatory, the Torah teaches the true meaning of freedom. Freedom necessitates assuming responsibilities and obligations. As our Sages taught: “None is free, save he who engages in Torah.” There is a reciprocal relationship between freedom and responsibility. Without freedom, one cannot properly discharge his responsibilities. Without assuming proper responsibilities there cannot be true and lasting freedom.

The mitzva of proclaiming the new month gives the Sanhedrin (supreme religious court) mastery over time. The lesson of the mitzva is that one who accepts the responsibility of time ultimately becomes the master of time.

Rashi, quoting Midrash Mechilta, comments that Moses had difficulty understanding God’s instructions. On the face of it, the Midrash seems odd. Because it should be quite simple (on a cloudless night) to observe the appearance of the new moon, wherein lay Moses’ difficulty?

When God instructed Moses that Israel was to begin measuring time from its freedom, Moses already understood that the absence of slavery is not freedom. Moses knew that Israel was to become truly free only at Sinai, when it accepted Torah. It is the acceptance of responsibility which distinguishes freedom from anarchy. Thus, in essence, Moses questioned why Israel’s time should be counted from Nissan, the month of the Exodus, rather than from Sivan, the month of the giving of Torah.

In His answer to Moses, God did not discount Moses’ approach. Indeed, freedom without fulfilling responsibilities will not last. However, God told Moses, freedom from Egypt is the first step towards Sinai. Without freedom, one cannot accept responsibility. Thus God told Moses, this month is the first month: it is the freedom of Nissan which will lead the People of Israel to Sinai, where their freedom will be consummated through acceptance of Torah.

Thus the Midrash conveys the deeper meaning of the concept of freedom.

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