ארץ אשר ה' אלקיך דרש אתה תמיד עיני ה' אלקיך בה מראשית השנה ועד אחרית שנה וגו' (יא-יב)
“The eyes of Hashem your G-d are always upon it (Eretz Yisroel) to determine what the land needs and to enact decrees (resolutions) upon it – sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad.” (Rashi) The Torah affords us a glimpse into the inner workings of the Almighty and how He is constantly watching the events in the Holy Land as they unfold, year by year, month by month, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute and second by second! Hashem does not view time as a linear progression that flows from one moment to the next without any connection to the past. Rather, He created time as a cyclical dimension, a medium through which we move, just as we move through space. Hence R’ Eliyahu Dessler ZT”L (Michtav M’Eliyahu) writes that time does not merely pass us by; rather, we move through it. We travel through a weekly cycle and hence we “meet” Shabbos once a week, while simultaneously traveling through a yearly cycle as we “pass through” the Jewish festivals and holidays. In fact, the word for time in Hebrew reflects its inherent meaning: “Zman” means “prepared.” Every moment in time has been prepared by Hashem for us to utilize to achieve our individual and communal goals. A zman is not to be wasted or disregarded, for there is so much promise and so much potential inherent in every second of time. We must make use of our zman, the way Hashem uses His zman.
The following story is recounted in intricate detail by R’ Mordechai Kamenetzky Shlit’a, Dean of Yeshivas Toras Chaim of South Shore, who is the protagonist in the story as well, from when he studied in the Ponovezh Yeshivah in Bnei Brak. In the Yeshivah world, there is a concept known as “Zmanin” or semesters. Generally, there are three “zmanim”: Winter zman begins on Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan (mid-Autumn) and ends Rosh Chodesh Nissan (early Spring). Summer zman begins on Rosh Chodesh Iyar (late Spring) and ends on Tisha B'Av (or thereabout). Elul zman begins on Rosh Chodesh Elul (late Summer) and ends the day after Yom Kippur. Breaks are referred to as “Bein Hazmanim” or between the semesters. Though never called a vacation, because Torah study has no vacation, the break period is analogous to baseball’s off-season: It is a time to rest up from the previous zman and prepare for the upcoming one.
One year, a friend of young Mordechai Kamenetzky was due to get married in England the day after Rosh Chodesh Nissan. Mordechai was studying diligently in the Ponovezh Yeshivah but had planned to travel home after the zman for Pesach. With his friend’s wedding, he figured that on his way home to America, he would arrange for a stop in England in order to attend the wedding. While there, he also planned to spend a few days touring the historic sights of London.
Not considering that it would be any sort of issue, Mordechai approached the Rosh Yeshivah, R’ Dovid Povarski ZT”L, for permission to leave a few days before the zman officially ended. That way, he would be able to tour England, attend the wedding, and spend almost a full month in the United States before returning to Israel for the Summer zman.
When he expressed his matter-of-fact request, R’ Dovid looked surprised and a bit taken aback. He indicated as much with a simple facial expression: How could you leave yeshivah a few days early? After all, the zman is still in session.
“But Rebbe,” young Mordechai retorted, “it’s already after Purim, and I’m only leaving three days before Rosh Chodesh Nissan.” Then he added what he thought would be a most convincing argument. “Anyway, it is not the middle of the zman - of course I wouldn’t leave then. It’s just the end of the zman.”
R’ Dovid looked at him very sternly. Apparently, he wasn’t impressed with this “clinching” argument. Then he smiled dejectedly while shaking his head as if the situation were hopeless. He lowered his eyes and then his voice dropped down to a hopeless tone of despair. “Back in Europe, when I was in the Mir,” said R’ Dovid, referring to one of the great Lithuanian yeshivos, “there was the ‘Zman’ and there was ‘Bein Hazmanim.’ That was all there was. It was either zman or not zman. The Americans came and invented a new and twisted concept - the end of the zman!” (Parasha Parables)