The first commandment given to the Jewish people was to sanctify time by establishing a calendar. In Exodus 12:2, God tells Moses, “This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you,” requiring the Jewish people to determine the particulars of the Jewish calendar. “Holiness in time is manifested through God’s festivals and according to His calendar, which begins on Rosh Hashanah in September, the head of the year,” said Rabbi Tuly Weisz,
editor of The Israel Bible The Jewish calendar distinguishes holiness down to the minute, but it is we who transform the mundane into the holy by bringing in the festivals, Shabbat and Yom Kippur—the most sanctified time—each outlined in the Hebrew Bible with a unique time on the Jewish calendar. According to Rabbi Daniel Sperber, British-born Israeli professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and expert in classical philology and history of Jewish custom, we often take time for granted, which is why we have special sacrifice prayers that express that degree of sanctity of time. READ MORE