A Minute at the Bus Stop
My son Moishy, who is in mesivta, missed his very early morning bus to yeshivah. He came home, ordered a taxi for himself, and was off. End of story. Actually, it isn’t even much of a story for there to be an ending. Or so I thought.
Later that evening, he explained to me that the bus comes anywhere from 6:55 to 7:15. He had shown up that morning at the bus stop at 6:58. No one was there, so presumably, the bus wasn’t coming. He assumed that today it had come early, so he came home.
Why the Bus Stop was Empty
The next boy strolled over at 7:01. He knew that he had an equal chance of making it or missing it. But with no boys at the stop, he figured he had missed it and went home.
At around 7:05 the next boy sauntered over. It was already really late. The bus stop was deserted. It was “obvious” that he had missed the bus and gone home.
He missed the boy who showed up at 7:08. This bachur knew that it was really late but figured he would try his luck. But with an empty bus stop and the late time, it was clear that he had missed the bus, so he left to make other arrangements.
7:10: the bus showed up at an empty stop.
I laughed at the image of tired boys, one by one sauntering over to the stop in the dark and cold, each one having missed the previous bachur by just a minute or two. They all gave up and went home so that when that bus finally did show up, the driver saw that no one was there and continued on, unaware of the action that had taken place there throughout the early morning.
Minutes Matter
But it also got me thinking. Minutes really do matter. A minute here, a minute there. Look at those bus-stop minutes. Minutes mattered.
A few weeks later, my son Dovi was trying to do something on the computer when the screen froze. I told him that it had been freezing lately, but that he should give it a minute and it would be working again. In frustration he blurted out, “I don’t have a minute.”
Yup, minutes count.
I know they count for me. If I need to run upstairs to get something, I try to sneak in a minute of chores. Make the bed, clear off the dresser or throw in a load of laundry.
Forty Days of Minutes
Moshe Rabbeinu was on Har Sinai for forty days. And for forty days he didn’t sleep. He spent every minute collecting precious words of Torah. He functioned like the servant who was to be rewarded by his master for all the gold and silver he could collect within a few hours. The servant would surely spend every minute collecting his reward. There would be no time wasted.
Life is precious. The minutes are precious. And each minute that we can be accomplishing something in this world shouldn’t be taken for granted.
As the משנה (פרק ב:כ) says: “היום קצר והמלאכה מרובה…” – The day is short and the work is very great…
I always say that the day isn’t long enough. There aren’t enough hours in the day. I can’t get everything done that needs to get done.
When we change the clock for Daylight Savings Time, that first Sunday has an extra hour in it. A full extra hour! An extra sixty minutes! So much more can be accomplished. It feels great!
An Extra Sixty Minutes
Except that it isn’t great. The day drags on. It is an endless day and not necessarily more productive. That taught me a lesson. Hashem made the days the perfect length, and each week lasts the number of days that are perfect for us. Each day has the exact number of minutes it is supposed to have. And it is those minutes that we must use to utilize and make the most of.
If you are wondering why this is in a Pesach issue, it is because during the weeks preceding Pesach, I always wonder how we are supposed to get to Pesach on time. I need more days, I need more hours, I need more minutes.
Wait one second! Minutes matter! They add up. So with one minute here and one minute there, I can make it. But I really better stop spending minutes typing and get to my cleaning.
Happy minute cleaning and a Chag Kasher V’sama’each!
This article originally appeared in Links magazine and appears here in revised form, with permission.
Chevrah Lomdei Mishnah / The Society for Mishnah Study is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing loved ones eternal merit through Torah Study and Prayer.
