Published June 2019
IT TAKES TIME
The great sequoia trees to be found in the redwood forests have endured for cen-turies. This is because they take a great deal of time to reach their full growth and stature. Some take as long as five hundred or even a thousand years to attain their full maturity.
Similarly, we must understand that it takes a certain length of time to develop our spiritual strength and to reach our maturity. There are certain things in this world that simply cannot be hurried. It takes nine months to develop a healthy baby, and there is no short cut to that. There are twenty-four hours in a day, sixty minutes in an hour and sixty seconds in a minute and no force on earth can hurry or delay that cycle. It takes shivah, a full week, for a mourner to accept the fact of death; it takes sheloshim, a full month for the mind to accept the loss; and it takes avaylut , a full year for the emotions to adjust to the deep pain of the passing of a dear one. And no pill or scheme has ever been invented to shorten these periods.
That is why we should have time on our minds rather than time on our hands. Have a joyous, restful, and healthy summer!
Rabbi Alvin Kass
Chief Chaplain of the NYPD