(יד) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים יְהִ֤י מְאֹרֹת֙ בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם לְהַבְדִּ֕יל בֵּ֥ין הַיּ֖וֹם וּבֵ֣ין הַלָּ֑יְלָה וְהָי֤וּ לְאֹתֹת֙ וּלְמ֣וֹעֲדִ֔ים וּלְיָמִ֖ים וְשָׁנִֽים׃
(14) And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for year."
"Otot are 'signs,' unpredictable events like eclipses and meteor showers, that occur outside of the regular cycling of the planets... they call us to wake up to life's wonders and make meaning out of moments.
Moadim are seasons. The round of seasons is nature's clock. Every seasons has its own unique qualities of light, scent, taste, and color. Each calls for particular activities from growth to exuberance to fullness to [dormancy]. Each reflects a specific aspect of the life cycle: birth, development, maturity, and death.
Yamim are days. The days bring to mind a kind of deep time that began eons ago and stretches on and on into the future and around again to the beginning -- an ocean, yamim, of days, yamim. This is eternal time: it goes on forever and our lifetimes make up a mere microsecond of it.
Shanim are years; shana also means change. Shanim refers to the changes that compose a life. This is linear, measurable time: time on a human scale.
Time has depth and integrity; it is whole and full. It has boundaries, just like space."
-Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation (56)
"There is a time for everything under heaven" says the poet Kohelet. I am trying to remember this. I am on the lookout for otot, miracles and synchronicities, that remind me of God's presence in my life. I try to ground myself in the moadim, seasons, by responding to the different needs of my garden in spring, summer, and fall, wearing colors and fabrics that reflect nature's hues and textures, and celebrating the festivals that mark each season. I think of each yom, day, as part of the ocean of time, and a connection to eternity. I reflect on my life through the shanim, years, knowing I have constant opportunities to change my life so that it is a better reflection of my deepest desires."
Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation (59)
(יט) וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם רְבִיעִֽי׃ (פ)
(19) And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Dawn and dusk are common times for prayer in all traditions. Many people experience a sublime sense of life's mystery and a deep peace at sunrise or sunset when earth is changing from light to dark or dark to light. We see more clearly when the light is not overhead but when we are losing it or gaining it, when it is balanced with a touch of darkness. These transition times provide a window to holiness and an opportunity for seeing more deeply.
Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation (67-8)
Moon Time, Rabbi Emma Kippley-Ogman
Macalester Jewish Organization's 5780 Elul Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7EB0d6vWyP7ThN9Rvgu4r2?si=vRtwuqPPTKW2v_8wgFy2BA
(2) By the seventh day, God finished the work which God had been doing,
and on the seventh day God ceased from all the work which God had done.
(Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation)
"The seventh day, like the first and the fourth, is concerned with time. God created day, on the first day, calendrical time on the fourth day, and rest, the release from ordinary time, on the seventh day. The seventh day also marks the creation of the first week.
Many theologians claim that the week is the only unit of time that has no special relationship to the natural world. They argue that while 'day' is determined by the earth's rotation, 'month' by the moon's cycle around the sun, and 'year' by the earth's cycle around the sun, the 'week' find its origin in the biblical creation story. This position seems to overlook the fact that the week marks one quarter of the moon's monthly cycle. The week is a fundamental expression of nature's cycles and the Sabbath honors this elemental connection."
Ellen Bernstein, The Splendor of Creation (126)
"Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to the holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation, from the world of creation to the creation of the world."
Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath (10)