Sanctification of Time - קידוש הזמן

ByM² IEJE

The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education

Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath

Judaism is a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time. Unlike the space-minded man to whom time is unvaried, iterative, homogeneous, to whom all hours are alike, quality-less, empty shells, the Bible senses the diversified character of time. There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and endlessly precious.

Judaism teaches us to be attached to holiness in time, to be attached to sacred events, to learn how to consecrate sanctuaries that emerge from the magnificent stream of a year. The Sabbaths are our great cathedrals; and our Holy of Holies is a shrine that neither the Romans nor the Germans were able to burn; a shrine that even apostasy cannot, easily obliterate: the Day of Atonement. According to the ancient rabbis, it is not the observance of the Day of Atonement, but the Day itself, the "essence of the Day," which, with man's repentance, atones for the sins of man.

Jewish ritual may be characterized as the art of significant forms in time, as architecture of time. Most of its observances -- the Sabbath, the New Moon, the festivals, the Sabbatical and the Jubilee year -- depend on a certain hour of the day or season of the year. It is, for example, the evening, morning, or afternoon that brings with it the call to prayer. Teh main themes of faith lie in the realm of time. We remember the day of the exodus from Egypt, the day when Israel stood at Sinai; and our Messianic hope is the expectation of a day, of the end of days.

סנהדרין מ״ב א:ג׳

א"ר אסי א"ר יוחנן כל המברך על החדש בזמנו כאילו מקבל פני שכינה

Sanhedrin 42a:3

Rav Assi said in the name of Rebbi Yohanan: All who bless the "new one" hahodesh (the moon) in its time, it's as if they received the face (presence) of Shekhinah.

משנה תורה, הלכות קידוש החודש ב׳:י׳

בֵּית דִּין שֶׁקִּדְּשׁוּ אֶת הַחֹדֶשׁ בֵּין שׁוֹגְגִין בֵּין מֻטְעִין בֵּין אֲנוּסִים הֲרֵי זֶה מְקֻדָּשׁ וְחַיָּבִין הַכּל לְתַקֵּן הַמּוֹעֲדוֹת עַל הַיּוֹם שֶׁקִּדְּשׁוּ בּוֹ. אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁזֶּה יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁטָּעוּ חַיָּב לִסְמֹךְ עֲלֵיהֶם שֶׁאֵין הַדָּבָר מָסוּר אֶלָּא לָהֶם וּמִי שֶׁצִּוָּה לִשְׁמֹר הַמּוֹעֲדוֹת הוּא צִוָּה לִסְמֹךְ עֲלֵיהֶם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר אֲשֶׁר תִּקְרְאוּ אֹתָם וְגוֹ':

Mishneh Torah, Sanctification of the New Month 2:10

If the court sanctified the new moon erroneously, incorrectly or forcibly, the sanctification remains valid and everyone must fix the dates of the festivals in accordance with the day in which the members of the court sanctified the new moon. Even if someone knows that they have made a mistake, he must rely on their decision, because the authority in this matter rests only with them. He who has commanded us to observe the festivals has also commanded us to depend on them, as it is written: "The festivals … which you shall proclaim" (Leviticus 23:2).

Exodus Rabbah 15:24

When the Sanhedrin sanctified a new month, what blessing did they make? some Rabbis say that the blessing recited was "Blessed are You Hashem, Who renews the months." Other Rabbis say that the blessing recited was "Blessed are You Hashem, Who makes the months holy." Other Rabbis say that the blessing recited was "Blessed are You Hashem, Who makes the Children of Israel holy."

Because if the Children of Israel do not sanctify the moon, it does not become holy at all!