Are You Getting Old?

Answer

Old age is not so easy to define. For a professional football player, forty is already over the hill. On the other hand, there are budding authors in their eighties publishing their first book. So who is old?

We do need a clear answer. There is a mitzvah to “rise before the aged, and give deference to the old.” This means more than just offering old people a seat on the bus. It means listening to what they have to say and taking their words seriously.

The mere fact that a person has been around for a while gives a level of credibility and weight to their opinion. Of course there are some very foolish octogenarians, and there are some very wise millennials. But nothing beats life experience. Elders deserve respect just because they have seen a lot.

But how old is old?

One opinion in Jewish law states that if you look old, you are considered an elder, no matter your age. Others give a specific cut-off age of seventy, and some even posit that sixty is old enough to be old. So to cover ourselves, we should give honour to someone like you in your sixties, even if you look young.

But the most delightful definition of old age is found in the Talmud. It says that if people call you “oldie” and you take it as an insult, then you aren't old. But if you don't mind people calling you old, then you have earned the title of elder.

This is brilliant. As long as you are stuck in the cult of trying to stay young, you haven't reached the age of respectability. The sign that you have attained the level of mature wisdom is that you are comfortable being old. It's not an insult, but an honour.

So let's test you, oldie.

How did that feel?