5786/2025
Have you ever seen someone throw five dollars out the window of a bus? Imagine the scene. You’re sitting on a bus, and the man sitting next to you digs his hand into his pocket. He pulls out a small wad of singles, leans over, and throws the cash out the window. You stare on in shock. Five minutes later, the scene repeats itself. Unbelievable!
Have you ever been on a bus and seen someone throw five minutes out the window? And then another five minutes, and yet another?
When Yaakov Avinu arrived in Charan, he encountered a group of shepherds who seemed to be idling. He offered them corrective advice, “Hen Od HaYom Gadol Lo Et HaMikneh Hasku HaTzon U’Lechu U’Reu”, “The work day isn’t over – give water to your sheep, and keep working” (BeReishit 29:7). Rashi elaborates: “If you work for someone else, you’re ‘snoozing on the job.’ If you’re self-employed, there is still available time left in the work-day.” The Seforno adds, “A Tzaddik despises deceit, even when he observes it in others.”
Hold on one moment. If in fact these shepherds were slacking in their duties towards an employer, Yaakov Avinu’s negative reaction to their deceit is certainly understandable. If, however, they are self-employed, from whom were these shepherds stealing?
The answer is that they were stealing from themselves. To Yaakov Avinu, their lack of self-actualization was as criminal as robbing a third party. This is the outlook of a Tzaddik—he appreciates the inestimable value of each minute, because he is keenly aware of how much potential each person has.
Let’s do an experiment, and challenge ourselves. If we are anticipating a situation in which we will have “time to kill,” let’s pre-plan a way to “enliven” that time, by finding a quantitatively small, but qualitatively great, project to accomplish. It can be saying a single Perek of Tehillim for someone in need, learning a single Mishnah, or briefly reaching out to an elderly relative. If we plan in advance, we can reclaim time that we didn’t even realize was available!