And if not now, then when? (Ethics of the Fathers - TopicsExpress



          

And if not now, then when? (Ethics of the Fathers 1:14). Hillels famous statement is a bit enigmatic. The simple answer is, Later. Why cant we take care of whatever it is some other time? Granted that procrastination is not a virtue, why does Hillel imply that if not now, then it will never be? The Rabbi of Gur explained that if I do something later, it may indeed get done, but I will have missed the current now. The present now has but a momentary existence, and whether used or not, it will never return. Later will be a different now. King Solomon dedicates seven famous verses of Ecclesiastes to his principle that everything has its specific time. His point comes across clearly: I can put off doing a good deed for someone until tomorrow, but will that deed, done exactly as I would have done it today, carry the same impact? The wisdom that I learn at this moment belongs to this moment. The good deed that I do at this moment belongs to this moment. Of course I can do them later, but they will belong to the later moments. What I can do that belongs to this moment is only that which I do now.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 00:58:22 +0000

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