The first commandment that the Jewish people received as a people was to declare the new month. Keeping time connotes freedom. We are now responsible for keeping time and what we do with it.
The First Mitzvah of Freedom: Owning Time
One of the most striking ideas in Parashat Bo is something Rashi points out almost in passing—but it changes how we understand freedom itself.
The first mitzvah given to the Jewish people as a people is Kiddush HaChodesh—the sanctification and announcement of the new month, Rosh Chodesh.
And notice when this mitzvah is given.
Not at Sinai.
Not after the Exodus.
Not after the splitting of the sea.
It is given while we are still in Egypt, while we are still enslaved, while we are still waiting for the final plague—the death of the firstborn—that will finally break Egyptian power.
This timing is deliberate.
Up until now, Egypt has been systematically dismantled. The plagues destroy Egypt’s gods, economy, natural order, and belief system. Darkness itself—both physical and ideological—has already descended. The final blow is imminent.
But before God takes us out of Egypt, something else must happen.
Egypt has to be taken out of us.
That is the deeper meaning of this mitzvah.
A defining difference between a slave and a free person is control over time.
A slave does not need a watch.
A slave does not set schedules.
A slave does not decide when something begins or ends.
Time belongs to the master.
A free person, by contrast, is responsible for time. If you are free, you must know when to act, when to show up, when something begins, and when it ends. You are accountable—not just for your actions, but for when you take them.
That is why the Jewish people are commanded, even before leaving Egypt, to sanctify time itself.
“This month is for you the first of months.”
God is saying: You are no longer passive objects in history.
You will no longer be told when life happens to you.
You will now shape time.
This idea remains true today.
Even on a secular holiday, even when attendance is small, even when the outside world is off schedule—we still pray at fixed times. We still show up. Because free people are responsible for their commitments, and free people understand that time matters.
A slave lives reactively.
A free person lives intentionally.
The mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh is not just about the calendar. It is about dignity, responsibility, and moral agency. It is the moment God tells the Jewish people: You are now accountable. You are now builders of a future.
Freedom does not begin with open borders.
Freedom begins with owning time.
Something to think about.
