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Time and Process in Ancient Judaism
Stern (Jewish studies, U. of London) searched all the ancient Jewish sources, looking for indications that time was linear or cyclical or both, was absolute or relative, whether saving time was ethical and wasting it not, and so forth. He found no indications of any of it, and concluded that the peo
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152 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2003
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July 8, 2024
I’m a big music fan. There are hundreds of songs that make reference to the stand-alone concept of time. Dave Matthews feels no guilt about “just wasting time.” Elton John’s “Rocket Man” will be away for a “long, long time.” The Weeknd almost had his love interest, but he was “out of time.” But what if I told you that this independent concept of time would be very confusing, and perhaps not comprehensible at all, to Jews in the times of Tanach, Mishnah, and Gemara? Well, that is exactly what Sacha Stern claims in his book, “Time and Process in Ancient Judaism.”
Did you know that the word “Zeman” does not appear in Torah or Nevi’im at all? Yes, there are terms like “Es” and “Moed” which are used regularly in the Torah, however, these consistently refer to either specific points in time (“moments”), or specific durations of time. In Tanach we do not see references to a reified concept of time like we have in modern-day society. This continues throughout the time of the Mishnah and Gemara. The treatment of time from Tanach through the Gemara is based on natural processes, like sunrise, sunset, walking a mil, eating a pras, etc. Yes, there are “hours,” however, these are variable hours that are defined based on natural processes (shaos zmaniyos). Treating time as an entity in and of itself is not seen at all until the times of the later Geonim (Sa’adyah Goan). Once the Rambam comes along, we see a modern treatment of time as a reified concept, with questions like “Was time created?” appearing in the Moreh HaNevuchim, comments like “wasting time” appearing in Peirush HaMishnayos and the introduction to the Mishneh Torah. The term bittul zeman first appears in the 16th century; there does not appear to be any reference to “wasting time” in and of itself in Tanach, Mishah, or Gemara (as opposed to waste of specific things, namely, bittul Torah).
Stern shows convincingly that the concept of time existed in Ancient Greence (600 BCE), yet was seemingly protected from Jewish culture until the Arabic philosophers of the early middle ages introduced it to the sages of the time. It is an interesting claim and worth further study. He also touches on the modern conception of time based on Einstein’s relativity and that an absolute time actually does not exist.
This book is one of the most thought-provoking books I’ve read in the last couple of years, and I highly recommend it. There is much more to say on the topic, but I'll let you read the book yourself so I don't spoil it. At the end of the day, perhaps Hootie and the Blowfish said it best: “... and I don’t believe in time.”
Did you know that the word “Zeman” does not appear in Torah or Nevi’im at all? Yes, there are terms like “Es” and “Moed” which are used regularly in the Torah, however, these consistently refer to either specific points in time (“moments”), or specific durations of time. In Tanach we do not see references to a reified concept of time like we have in modern-day society. This continues throughout the time of the Mishnah and Gemara. The treatment of time from Tanach through the Gemara is based on natural processes, like sunrise, sunset, walking a mil, eating a pras, etc. Yes, there are “hours,” however, these are variable hours that are defined based on natural processes (shaos zmaniyos). Treating time as an entity in and of itself is not seen at all until the times of the later Geonim (Sa’adyah Goan). Once the Rambam comes along, we see a modern treatment of time as a reified concept, with questions like “Was time created?” appearing in the Moreh HaNevuchim, comments like “wasting time” appearing in Peirush HaMishnayos and the introduction to the Mishneh Torah. The term bittul zeman first appears in the 16th century; there does not appear to be any reference to “wasting time” in and of itself in Tanach, Mishah, or Gemara (as opposed to waste of specific things, namely, bittul Torah).
Stern shows convincingly that the concept of time existed in Ancient Greence (600 BCE), yet was seemingly protected from Jewish culture until the Arabic philosophers of the early middle ages introduced it to the sages of the time. It is an interesting claim and worth further study. He also touches on the modern conception of time based on Einstein’s relativity and that an absolute time actually does not exist.
This book is one of the most thought-provoking books I’ve read in the last couple of years, and I highly recommend it. There is much more to say on the topic, but I'll let you read the book yourself so I don't spoil it. At the end of the day, perhaps Hootie and the Blowfish said it best: “... and I don’t believe in time.”
Displaying 1 of 1 review