“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
—Ecclesiastes 3:1
Today is ‘Be Late for Something Day,’ an annual celebration inaugurated by the Procrastinator’s Club of America, a Philadelphia-based club founded in jest by Les Waas in 1956. The club describes its purpose as promoting “the philosophy of relaxation through putting off until later those things that needn’t be done today.” The club first earned local notoriety for its 1966 anti-war protests against the War of 1812.
Reading about the playful antics of the Procrastinator’s Club of America made me wonder how and why Jewry developed a reputation for showing up late. The association between Jews and tardiness has become so pervasive that the phrase Jewish Standard Time now has its own Wikipedia entry, while an author from The Times of Israel flippantly took his fellow Jews to task for their disreputable tardiness several years ago, describing it as inconsideration. Furthermore, as I can personally affirm, even in the U.S. Army, Jewish services rarely, if ever, begin on schedule.
Ironically, Jewish tradition prizes punctuality. One of our daily prayers, derived from the Mishnah, extols those who arrive on time at the house of study, while the Book of Proverbs chastises sluggishness on several occasions. Meanwhile, the Torah illustrates the potential costs of tardiness through the tale of the Golden Calf, which commences when the Israelites grow anxious following Moses’ late arrival from the top of Mount Sinai.
Nevertheless, we should consider that there may be good reasons for our people’s apparent penchant for late arrivals. Though several aspects of our tradition encourage punctuality, others seek to remind us that all aspects of life are meant to be savored and that there’s always time to take the time to help someone else along our way. Though we clearly should work diligently to avoid wasting someone else’s time, perhaps we can also forgive ourselves (and others) the occasional lapse in punctuality, should it help nurture a sense of appreciation for our many blessings or acts of lovingkindness.
—Rabbi Josh Knobel