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The Death Watch By Rabbi Yonason Goldson
JewishWorldReview.com |
Whether or not you're a fan of science fiction, it's always intriguing when our life in the present imitates the art of our past.
In Robert A. Heinlein's first published story, Life-line, Professor Pinero builds a machine that can predict any person's day of death. To verify Pinero's claim, a committee of scientists submit to his examination, after which their names are sealed in separate envelopes, each with the date-of-death printed on the outside, and locked away for future verification. The first to die is Pinero himself, murdered by zealots who believe he is tampering with Fate. Upon learning of Pinero's death, the chairman of the science committee calls for the box of envelopes and, after determining that Pinero had accurately predicted his own demise, burns the whole batch of envelopes to ashes.
So… what would you do? If it were possible to predict the day of your death, would you want to know?
Well, now you can.
More or less.
Fredrik Colting has already taken 3000 orders for his new digital watch, the Tikker.
Instead of a singlerow of numbers, the Tikker has three. One row tells the time like any ordinary watch. However, a second row displays years, months, and days, while a third row displays hours, minutes, and seconds, inexorably counting down toward -- you guessed it -- the day you will die.
Mr. Colting has nicknamed his invention the happiness watch.
Of course, there are no guarantees that the watch is accurate. But it does come programmed with a formula similar to the U. S. Government Life Expectancy Calculator.
The wearer enters date of birth, sex, ethnicity, a few personal habits and voila! the Tikker begins ticking off the time he has left to live.
So why call it the happiness watch? Mr. Colting believes that a greater awareness of how much time we have left will make us value that time more, so that we will live more virtuous and fruitful lives.
He may be right. According to NPR, scientists all over the world have observed that by contemplating death, people acquire a deeper sense of the value of life and become inclined to show increasing generosity.
However, when NPR interviewed psychologist Sheldon Solomon of Skidmore College, they learned that other studies indicate just the opposite.
Reflections on death make people xenophobic, sometimes to the point of hostility and even physical aggression.
"When [Christians were] reminded of their mortality first, now they hated the Jewish people," says Dr. Solomon. "And that's not about Christians per se. In Israel, if you have Jewish people thinking about dying, they dislike Arabs and Christians. In India, if you have Indians think about dying, they dislike Pakistanis, and so on."
So NPR tried its own experiment. Reporters recruited Jeff and Theresa Rosenthal (each of whom has about thirty years to go, according to the Tikker) to wear the watch for 24 hours. Jeff started off with a burst of passion for life, but his mood soon gave way to morbid impatience. On the other hand, Theresa's early feelings of anxiety gradually dissipated before a sense that all was well with the world. "Colors are brighter," she reported. "I feel almost like what you feel when you're first in love."
Theresa plans to buy herself a Tikker when it comes out. Jeff couldn't wait to take his off.
So why the difference?
COUNTING THE SANDS OF TIME
"The clock belongs to another traveler who had no money to pay for his room," replied the innkeeper. "He left the clock with me as security until he could return to pay his bill."
The chassid interrogated the innkeeper further until he concluded: "This clock must have been handed down from the holy Rebbe of Lublin.
"A clock is generally a source of depression," the chassid continued. "It ticks off the moments of our lives, perpetually reminding us of lost opportunities and unrealized dreams.
"But the Rebbe of Lublin lived his life utilizing every moment in pursuit of spiritual perfection. For him, every chime of the clock heralded the nearing arrival of the messianic era and his own reward of eternal bliss in the World to Come. This clock has become a harbinger of joyful tidings."
A TIME TO WEEP, AND A TIME TO LAUGH
There can be no more depressing notion than the idea that this world is a great accident and that nothing will remain of us after we are gone. Why will the Almighty judge us for all our actions? Because everything we do matters!
How much time do you spend preparing for a date or a business meeting? Should you put any less effort into getting ready to meet eternity?
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PREPARING FOR THE END OF DAYS
The sages tell us that our father Jacob, as he lay on his deathbed, intended to reveal to his sons when the messianic era would arrive. But the Almighty withdrew Jacob's spirit of prophecy so that he lost his vision of the future. Instead, he gave his sons blessings before his soul left this world.
As the beginning of the long and painful Egyptian exile loomed before the incipient Jewish nation, Jacob thought to ease his children's anxiety by showing them a vision of their ultimate redemption. But knowledge of the future changes the future. So the Almighty took the words out of Jacob's mouth, leaving his sons -- and us -- uncertain of how much collective time we have remaining.
But why did Jacob substitute blessings for knowledge of the future?
Jacob's blessings were not mere platitudes or bromides. Rather, he gave each son a deeper insight into himself, a greater awareness of his unique strengths or weaknesses so that he would be prepared to engage the world to the limits of his potential and utilize the time he had on earth without worrying about how much time he had left.
Ultimately, we're better off not knowing what is to come. But either way, when we appreciate how our time in this world gives us an opportunity to gain entry to a far better place, every moment becomes a priceless gift and every day becomes filled with the expectation of a joyful future.
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Comment by clicking here. JWR contributor Rabbi Yonason Goldson teaches at Block Yeshiva High School in St. Louis, MO, where he also writes and lectures. He is author of Dawn to Destiny: Exploring Jewish History and its Hidden Wisdom, an overview of Jewish philosophy and history from Creation through the compilation of the Talmud, now available from Judaica Press. Visit him at http://torahideals.com .
© 2013, Rabbi Yonason Goldson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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