How do we make time for what is important?
Amid the busyness of the day-to-day, it can be quite difficult to find the time to do what you find most important. You might wish to relax more, to see your family more often, to be outside, to meditate or exercise, but there just isn’t time during the day.
Our ancient text anticipates this problem in its own context. In the middle of presenting laws pertaining to purity and animal sacrifice, the Torah tells us in Emor to set aside fixed, holy times (Lev. 23:2). The Torah delineates God’s sacred occasions which we are to celebrate. The list includes Shabbat, Passover, and Yom Kippur. The Torah could have instructed us to find time to rest, to remember our people’s history, and to ask for forgiveness and seek atonement. But the Torah does not leave it up to each of us to find time to do each of those things; instead, it sets a time for each.
I invite you to think about what is really important to you, what you value most. And then set aside some time each day (or week, or month) for it.