Sarah Cohen, age 91, was having some health issues and went to see her doctor.
“What should I tell you, Mrs Cohen?” said the doctor. “I can’t make you any younger.”
“Doctor,” said Sarah, “I don’t want you should make me younger. I need you to make me older!”
“And Abraham was old, well on in years,” we read in this week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah (Genesis 24:1). And the obvious question is that the phrase seems rather redundant. “Old” and “well on in years” seem to mean the same thing. We know the Torah is never repetitious and not a single word is superfluous. So, why the need for both expressions?
Commentary explains that old is a biological term, while “on in years” refers to the accomplishments of the person in their many years of life. What did they achieve in their lives? “On in years,” therefore, means that the person’s years were useful and productive. His years were well spent.
Some people live long lives, but don’t use their time on earth very wisely. Others achieve a great deal in a relatively short span of time. Abraham had many years, and his years were richly endowed, full and filled with an abundance of significant achievements.
Are we living or merely existing? Some people are blessed with very long lives, but are they alive and fruitful, or are they simply vegetating? Like the fellow whose tombstone epitaph read, “Died at 60. Buried at 90.”
The Torah, therefore, teaches us that Abraham’s years were filled with quantity and quality.
There is an old Chassidic proverb that says, “Age is not calculated by our passport.” Passports and identity documents only record our biological ages. What we do with our years is another matter entirely and is, in fact, much more important. As Benjamin Franklin said, “A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough.”
Back in 1980, the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson—launched an initiative to establish kollels, Jewish educational institutions, designed specifically for senior citizens. He argued that after retirement, older people had a lot of time on their hands, and it was all too often being wasted. There are many more worthy things to do with one’s life than just playing cards. These Studies for Seniors programs mushroomed all over the world, providing learning opportunities and keeping older people meaningfully and happily occupied while enjoying newfound satisfaction and contentment.
I personally established the kollel for senior citizens in Johannesburg back when I was the director of the Chabad House. How well I still remember receiving a phone call one day from a woman who told me, “Rabbi, you saved my father’s life!”
I was stunned. How did I save his life?
She explained that before joining the Studies for Seniors program, her father would walk around in his pyjamas all morning just waiting for lunch. He had nothing to do and little to look forward to. But no sooner had he enrolled in the program than he was like a new man. He was dressed and ready to go at the crack of dawn. Eager and brimming with anticipation, he not only had something to get up for, but he had a whole new purpose in life.
The Rebbe correctly pointed out that retiring people at 65 deprives the world of an infinite treasure of wisdom and experience that we would be foolish to squander.
When it comes to the debate of youth over experience, American author and educator Lyman Bryson said,“The error of youth is to believe that intelligence is a substitute for experience, while the error of age is to believe experience is a substitute for intelligence.” Clearly, we need both. If only we were all able to synchronize the energy of youth with the experience of our elders.
Mozart was composing music from the age of 5. Anne Frank was only 12 when she started her famous diary. And Pelé was all of 17 when he helped Brazil win the Soccer World Cup in 1958.
On the other hand, Ronald Reagan was 69 when he was elected president of the United States, and Nelson Mandela was 76 when he became president of South Africa. At the time, when Reagan was criticized for being too old for office, he countered by quipping that Moses had led the Israelites’ exodus out of Egypt when he was already 80 years old. If he’d retired at 65, the Jews might still be slaves in Egypt!
At the end of the day, how many years we will live is in God’s hands. But what we do with those years is entirely up to us. Please God, we will all be blessed to live lives that are long and productive.
Looking for longevity
What about quality of life?
Rabbi Yossy Goldman
Sarah Cohen, age 91, was having some health issues and went to see her doctor.
“What should I tell you, Mrs Cohen?” said the doctor. “I can’t make you any younger.”
“Doctor,” said Sarah, “I don’t want you should make me younger. I need you to make me older!”
“And Abraham was old, well on in years,” we read in this week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah (Genesis 24:1). And the obvious question is that the phrase seems rather redundant. “Old” and “well on in years” seem to mean the same thing. We know the Torah is never repetitious and not a single word is superfluous. So, why the need for both expressions?
Commentary explains that old is a biological term, while “on in years” refers to the accomplishments of the person in their many years of life. What did they achieve in their lives? “On in years,” therefore, means that the person’s years were useful and productive. His years were well spent.
Some people live long lives, but don’t use their time on earth very wisely. Others achieve a great deal in a relatively short span of time. Abraham had many years, and his years were richly endowed, full and filled with an abundance of significant achievements.
Are we living or merely existing? Some people are blessed with very long lives, but are they alive and fruitful, or are they simply vegetating? Like the fellow whose tombstone epitaph read, “Died at 60. Buried at 90.”
The Torah, therefore, teaches us that Abraham’s years were filled with quantity and quality.
There is an old Chassidic proverb that says, “Age is not calculated by our passport.” Passports and identity documents only record our biological ages. What we do with our years is another matter entirely and is, in fact, much more important. As Benjamin Franklin said, “A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough.”
Back in 1980, the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson—launched an initiative to establish kollels, Jewish educational institutions, designed specifically for senior citizens. He argued that after retirement, older people had a lot of time on their hands, and it was all too often being wasted. There are many more worthy things to do with one’s life than just playing cards. These Studies for Seniors programs mushroomed all over the world, providing learning opportunities and keeping older people meaningfully and happily occupied while enjoying newfound satisfaction and contentment.
I personally established the kollel for senior citizens in Johannesburg back when I was the director of the Chabad House. How well I still remember receiving a phone call one day from a woman who told me, “Rabbi, you saved my father’s life!”
I was stunned. How did I save his life?
She explained that before joining the Studies for Seniors program, her father would walk around in his pyjamas all morning just waiting for lunch. He had nothing to do and little to look forward to. But no sooner had he enrolled in the program than he was like a new man. He was dressed and ready to go at the crack of dawn. Eager and brimming with anticipation, he not only had something to get up for, but he had a whole new purpose in life.
The Rebbe correctly pointed out that retiring people at 65 deprives the world of an infinite treasure of wisdom and experience that we would be foolish to squander.
When it comes to the debate of youth over experience, American author and educator Lyman Bryson said,“The error of youth is to believe that intelligence is a substitute for experience, while the error of age is to believe experience is a substitute for intelligence.” Clearly, we need both. If only we were all able to synchronize the energy of youth with the experience of our elders.
Mozart was composing music from the age of 5. Anne Frank was only 12 when she started her famous diary. And Pelé was all of 17 when he helped Brazil win the Soccer World Cup in 1958.
On the other hand, Ronald Reagan was 69 when he was elected president of the United States, and Nelson Mandela was 76 when he became president of South Africa. At the time, when Reagan was criticized for being too old for office, he countered by quipping that Moses had led the Israelites’ exodus out of Egypt when he was already 80 years old. If he’d retired at 65, the Jews might still be slaves in Egypt!
At the end of the day, how many years we will live is in God’s hands. But what we do with those years is entirely up to us. Please God, we will all be blessed to live lives that are long and productive.
