Page 44 - HaMizrachi #9 Yom HaAtzmaut 5779

ELASTICITY

Yaniv

ANSWERS! OF TIME

Editor’s note: Our resident, totally unofficial Israeli guide brings you insights into a lighter side of the Israeli
experience you won’t likely find in the usual news sources. Yaniv will also respond to readers’ questions and
observations (non-halachic of course). He can be reached at yaniv@mizrachi.org. Enjoy!

Q: I I am a big procrastinator yet finally already on the way.” Was he lying to break – all four agents, as if in some
we are making aliyah. Will my clock- her? No way – he was just expressing highly choreographed and rehearsed
challenged nature be a problem? the phenomenon I came to call the dance move, stopped talking to
“Elasticity of Time.” customers mid-sentence and took three
A: Time will tell steps backs to the credenza behind the
Albert Einstein taught us that time is counter. They poured themselves some
ctually, there are several, relative. When speaking to a relative, coffee, ate biscuits and relaxed, totally
sometimes contradictory, time- time is in the eye of the beholder.
A oriented philosophies in play in oblivious to the customers still waiting
our Holy Land. As a first world, hi-tech Every Erev Shabbat we rush around at in line. We customers understood
that this delay was inevitable, waited
leader, Israel is at the cutting edge of the last minute in a frenzied game of
scientific achievements. Many of the “Beat the Clock.” It makes no difference patiently for the 10-minute break to be
technologies that have been developed if candle lighting is at 5 pm or 8 pm. We completed and for our watches, and the
in Israel depend on accurate timekeeping rush. Why? If we can make it at 5 pm in agents, to function once again.
and flawless synchronicity. Neither the the winter, why do we need to wait until In this world we have Normal Time,
guidance control system of cars (Waze) the last minute in the summer? Answer: JST (Jewish Standard Time), and IST
or spacecrafts (תי ִ ׁשא ֵ ר ְּ ב) could function time is elastic. It stretches to help us fill (Israel Standard Time), which basically
without precise timing. our day. And all too often we fill it with means, “when I finally get around to

And yet the country is filled with people just filler. That is why a siren needs to doing it.” So be warned: if you go to an
rushing around, but in no particular sound 20 minutes (and some places 40 Israeli wedding, do not show up at the
hurry. minutes) before candle lighting. “Hey, scheduled time, or you will probably
get a move on. Shabbat will be here soon have to set up all the chairs.
Many years ago, I was sitting in a … ready or not, here it comes!”
meeting with a colleague whose wife One last thought: Albert Einstein was
had specifically asked him to be home I have noticed one area where time is asked to become President of Hebrew
at a certain hour. The meeting lasted exact. Waiting in a queue to pay a ת ַּ פּוק University. He respectfully declined.
longer than anticipated and we all knew םי ִ ל ֹוח (medical clinic) premium (way Perhaps he did not have the time.
that we had at least another 30 minutes before the Internet. Yaniv is so old, but
before we could break up. His wife that's a tale for a different time), four
called. He responded with three magic queues had formed in front of the four Feel free to send me any other
words which calmed her down and yet agents at the counter. At precisely 10:30 perplexing questions you have:
ְ
left me surprised: “ך ֶ ר ֶ ּ ד ַּ ב ר ָ ב ְּ כ י ִנ ֲ א – I am am – the prescribed time for their coffee yaniv@mizrachi.org

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