THE BIBLE REGARDS LONG LIFE AS A BLESSING.

 

It gives the instruction to “rise before the aged and show deference to the old”, “You shall rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear your God; I am the Lord”, but does not define “old.” That definition is left to the Oral Law: according to Tractate Avot, “At sixty one is an elder, at seventy one attains grey-haired old age.”

 

The Halachah lays down that one must show respect and rise for every person of 70 years or more. There are other views regarding who is included in the category of the “grey-headed”: some sages consider the verse as applying only to someone who is both old and wise, while R. Yose the Galilean sees age as irrelevant and Torah scholarship as the only criterion. In ancient times, the Elders were vested with special authority out of respect for their wisdom and experience. There are other definitions of “old” as well, although these do not affect the law concerning respect for elders. Thus, a priest may work in the Temple until he is “old,” and the definition of “old” given in this case refers to one whose hands tremble. This same criterion has also been applied by some authorities to disqualify a ritual slaughterer on the basis of his age. Another talmudic definition of an old person is that he cannot stand on one foot and remove his shoe from the other foot while doing so.

 

 Old age may also be a question of one's mental state. Thus, the Shulhan Aruch rules that any woman who does not object to being called “mother” is considered to be old, although another view modifies this definition and makes it more objective by regarding as old any woman who is fit to be called “mother” without objecting.

 

 Various laws make specific provision for the old: unleavened bread may be soaked in water for the Passover Seder so that the old can consume it, and the old are exempt from going to Jerusalem for the Pilgrim Festivals. An old person who is too infirm to walk without a cane (or anyone else with such an infirmity) is permitted to take his cane with him on the Sabbath, as it is considered to be an extension of his body, whereas a person who does not need a cane would be held to break the Sabbath law by carrying were he to take a cane with him on that day. While there are references to the old as being compassionate, other references suggest that they are not so: an old man may not be appointed to the Sanhedrin because, according to Rashi, “he has forgotten the difficulties of raising children, and is not merciful.”

In the Bible, there are three distinct periods of a lifetime, each with its own range of how long people lived. From the creation until Noah, ages of 900 and more were common. In the case of the patriarchs, Abraham lived 175 years, Isaac 180 years, and Jacob 147 years. Sarah, the only one of the matriarchs whose age is recorded, died at 127. Moses lived to 120, which was also seen as the limit of human life; a favourite Jewish greeting is “May you live to 120.” Finally, a verse in Psalms closely reflects man's life expectancy even today.

 

“The span of our life is seventy years or, given the strength, eighty years”. The Hebrew word for “strength”, Gevurot, has indeed entered the Jewish vocabulary to represent one who is 80 years old.

 

The Bible offers long life as a reward for honouring one's parents, “Honour your father and your mother; that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you”.

 

For sending away the mother bird before taking its chicks, “But you shall let the mother go, and take the young to you; that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days”.

 

 And for keeping correct weights “But you shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shall you have; that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God gives you”.