You know the Romans were known for many great achievements, but they weren’t so swift when it came to marking the passage of time. They invented the Julian calendar which was advanced for its time, but didn’t take into account the exact length of a year. So after a few years it became obvious that the calendar wasn’t keeping pace with the actual changing of the seasons.

So many countries simply refused to follow it, even though they knew it was more accurate. In fact, England and her colonies didn’t agree to use the new calendar until 1752, and even then many people protested the loss of time. The rallying cry of the opposition to the new calendar was, “Give us back our days.”

And that has been the wisdom of Jewish civilization from our most ancient days. For at least the last 3,000 years we have had this day – Yom Kippur so we will remember every day, that we may not live to see the next tomorrow. In ancient days Rabban Gamliel decreed that all Jews be buried in a plain, white shroud to teach us that no matter how much we might accumulate during our brief time on earth, we leave it all behind when the angel of death comes to call.

Well, here we are on Yom Kippur. And here I stand dressed in a white robe, a symbol of that very shroud of death that Rabban Gamliel mandated so many centuries ago. For Jewish tradition has always recognized the stark reality of life – once they are gone, no power on earth can ever give us back our days.

David received a lung transplant that evening, and all of us – his family, friends, congregation, community breathed a deep sigh of relief with him, ached with him as he suffered through the trauma and fears and finally success of that astounding operation.

And then week after week and month after month, David lived his life to the fullest with his friends, his KI Havurah, and his beloved wife and soul mate Judith – every single day. He even helped design and organize the new wall of history that we will be dedicating at Kehillat Israel in honor of our 50th anniversary in November. But after eight short months even this miracle came to an end as his new lung failed him, and David Levinson died, an inspiration to the end. “Give us back our days.” Oh, if we only could.

You see, no one really has to give us back our days – we already have all the time there is – we have today. And the reason we are here is re-ignite a sense of urgency in the days we have. The past is already a dream and the future is a promise that no one can keep.

Let us be like the famed artist, Auguste Renoir who suffered so from arthritis that just holding a brush in his hand was enough to make him wince. “Why do you keep painting?” a friend once asked. “The pain passes,” replied Renoir, “but the beauty endures.”

No one can give us back our days. How precious each moment is, and how easy it is to forget.