Time is More than Money

What seems to craft leaders - and nations - more than anything else is the association they have to time. The Jewish people's first mitzvah centered around time; having been enslaved for generations, as a free people, the first commandment they received centered around the recognition of time, the sanctification of the new month. After all, only a free people, with time that is truly their own, can autonomously choose how to use their time, and record it in a way that adds substance, and meaning, without which it cannot be sanctified. 

Likewise for leaders, the test of time - and the ability to wait - are an everpresent gauge of their ability to lead, not just in a humane way but in one that conforms to the model designed by God. For Moshe, the sign that Hashem would truly lead his people out of slavery was that after all the miracles, and accompanying trials and tribulations, personal and national, that he, Moshe, would, over a year later return to the site of the burning bush, and they, as a people would again worship God - together - on the very same mountain (Shemot 3:12). Call it a waiting game, a holding pattern, leaders, as well as people, need the attribute of patience, the ability to defer gratification, to thrive in the face of uncertainty when time doesn't march to their beat, and conform to their need to get what they want, exactly when they want it. 

For Saul, or Shaul, that was one of the first real tests that Samuel, Shmuel, gave him. Could Saul hold the people at bay, and not cow to their demands to immediately offer elevation and peace offerings after Shmuel did not arrive at the end of a 7-day waiting period, whilst encircled by enemies in the Gilgal? Did Saul have the mettle, the nerves of steel to hold down the people, to assuage their concerns, or did he feel he was deterministrically circumscribed by their undulating demands, to the point where the only way to quell their fears about a Philistine advance was disobeying Samuel, and not waiting for the proper time? The obvious answer was "no," he did not; he couldn't control his fears, which is perhaps why he obsessively, and paranoically chased after David, unable to control his emotions, to recognize that he, Saul was the king, and David, who pledged allegiance was doing so fully, posing no threat - even prostrating himself time and time again before "Hashem's annointed." 

The ability to not kowtow to time's constraints, and have a long-term approach is perhaps what led to the sin of the golden calf. People were afraid for Moshe had "delayed in coming." It could be that Aharon himself was afraid, that on a subconscious level, he too did not know what would happen were Moses to not return. Moshe's complaint to Aharon was, "What did this nation do to you?" In other words, who's in charge? Who controls their emotions, who's got the reins, you or them?

About a year ago we had taken our daughter, Rina Simcha, to the pediatrician for something or the other, I can't really remember what. I don't remember if she had a cold, or a virus, but I remember that she was really out of sorts, cranky or colicky, and I was particularly apprehensive. The doctor assuaged my concerns, and then I asked, "Well, why is she acting this way?" and he said, "Look at yourself. Look at how nervous you are. You calm down, and she will too."

For Aharon, it seems like it would have been the same. Were he to have been able to gain inner control, he would have outward control of the situation as well; all of us face challenges when it comes to time and time management. We all seek to achieve certain milestones by a certain age, and yet, to gain control means to realize that our lives are not scripted, and that there are other factors at play, other stakeholders, who are part and parcel of our lives. Were we to achieve, or have achieved our goals in precisely the manner sought, we would be a less true version of ourselves, one that's not fully actualized, one that falls short of the potential for change, and betterment, and self-edification that we can bring to the world.