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From: R. Kovacs
Subject: The epoch question
Date: 21 Shevat 5780
My zeyde told me about a debate in Munkács over whether to use the Christian calendar for business correspondence.
This was after the war, after the borders changed, when the community was trying to rebuild. Some of the old questions came up again, because they had to be answered again. New documents, new forms, new business partners.
Some said: we should use their calendar for their business, our calendar for our business. This keeps things separate. The government will not understand our dates anyway.
Others said: every time we write "1920" we affirm that time began with their messiah. We should never use their calendar. Even for business.
My zeyde remembered the rabbi saying: "1920 is not a theological statement. It is an address. When you send a letter to Budapest, you do not affirm that Budapest should exist. You simply address the letter so it arrives. The address is for the postman, not for God."
He used the Christian calendar for business correspondence. But he always wrote the real date as well, in the corner, small, for himself.
An epoch is an address. It tells you where to start counting. It does not tell you what happened there.
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