STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
CHAYEI SARAH 5776
“MOST BEAUTIFUL”
Harav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt’l related a parable about a young Rabbi
of a small town who was not a very proficient speaker. He had terrible stage
fright and prepared extensively for every lecture he delivered. In fact, he
would begin preparing his Shabbos Shuva and Shabbos Hagadol lectures four
months in advance.
The Rabbi was most fearful of having to deliver a eulogy. If a
congregant died suddenly he would not have sufficient time to prepare and he feared
sounding foolish at the funeral. To assuage his nerves the Rabbi clandestinely
wrote eulogies for every member of his congregation. He then filed them away in
the back of his drawer.
One day a fire broke out in the town and spread precariously close to
the Rabbi’s house. The Rabbi scurried to gather his belongings in a state of
chaotic panic. The townspeople noticed papers lying in the street outside the
Rabbi’s home that contained eulogies of the members of the congregation. They
were dismayed to think that the Rabbi was preparing for their deaths. That
night the heads of the community convened and decided to fire the Rabbi.
Rabbi Elyashiv noted that the community members were fools. The wisest
of men declared, “Man goes to his eternal home, while the eulogizers go about
the streets, before the silver cord snaps, and the golden bowl is shattered…[1]”
Before a person even leaves this world, eulogizers abound and begin to write
his eulogy. In fact, throughout our lives we are writing the content of our own
eulogies. Instead of firing the Rabbi, the townspeople should have realized
that the Rabbi’s actions was actually a vital lesson for them.
Indeed, throughout our lives we must always ask ourselves: “Are we preparing
a good eulogy for ourselves?”
“Avrohom was old, coming with his days.” (24:1)
“Rabbi
Yehuda bar Simon said: Avrohom requested aging (i.e. that he look elderly). He
said before Him (G-d), “Master of the world, a man and his son enter a place,
and they don’t know who to honor. If You will crown (the elderly) with aging
then one will know who to honor. The Holy One, blessed is He, replied, ‘By your
life! You have requested something good and from you it will begin. From the
beginning of the book (Bereishis) until now it does not say the word ‘old’, but
when Avrohom stood (i.e. reached that age) G-d granted him aging. That is what
the verse means “Avrohom was old, coming with his days[2].”
Rabbi Shimshon Pinkus zt’l explains that Avrohom’s request for the
aging process to take effect was not because he desired respect. The Medrash[3]
quotes the verse “You are most beautiful of all people; charm has been poured
into your lips”, in reference to Avrohom Avinu. In other words, Avrohom did not
request to appear old as a matter of practicality, but Avrohom understood that
the appearance of old age was something beautiful and enviable, a veritable
crown of beauty.
In our generation, this idea is completely alien. Our society idolizes
youthful vigor and external beauty. People pay hundreds and thousands of
dollars to try to escape the natural process of senescence so that they can
continue to appear youthful, despite advanced age. We cannot imagine someone
telling an elderly person, “Look how beautiful you are; you look so old.” But
that was exactly what Avrohom requested.
Rabbi Pinkus notes that when he was a child
and heard people refer to the “Alter of Solobodka” or the “Alter of Kelm”[4]
he wondered what they did wrong to have been subject to such a degrading title.
It was not until he matured that he was able to appreciate the true meanings of
that distinguished designation.
Rabbi
Pinkus explains that there are three modes of time in one’s life: The past, the
present, and the future. When the average person contemplates his past he sadly
thinks that he has not accomplished much and has wasted much of his time on
vanity and nonsense. Still he consoles himself by convincing himself that the
future will be better. He will yet become rich, attain greatness, become a
scholar, fulfill his dreams, and develop into the person he aspires to be. Thus,
the person who is already past his prime can become dejected and disconsolate,
for he has not yet accomplished his goals and dreams, but now he lacks the
years and vitality to accomplish it in the future. It is that attitude and
thought-process which casts old age in such a morbid light.
Truly great
people however view their lives in the opposite manner. The future is yet
unknown and no one can know what tomorrow will bring. However, they can
celebrate their past accomplishments and achievements throughout their decades
of toil and effort.
When the
Torah records the years of Avrohom’s life it states (27:7), “And these are the
years of the life of Avrohom that he lived, one hundred years, seventy years,
and five years.” Avrohom did not merely live one hundred and seventy-five
physical years. He lived every day of his life to its fullest, accomplishing as
much as he was able to, because he viewed each day as an opportunity and a
gift. They were all years in which he truly lived!
Rabbi
Pinkus adds that truthfully there is another component of personal greatness. Even
if one has accomplished a great deal in the past, it is over and done. The
greatness of a person is ultimately measured by how he handles the present. [In
that sense it is aptly worded for every moment is indeed a present.] The
individual who views every blessing, prayer, conversation, interaction, and
action as an opportunity will take advantage of his every day.
When one seeks
a doctor one does not merely look for a doctor who is qualified and well-trained.
One also looks for a doctor who has much experience. Such a doctor examines his
patients and states his prognosis based on all of his year’s worth of knowledge
and experience.
A person
who views life as an elongated growth process and “takes his days with him”
builds his present based on his past. Each day is built upon the days, months,
and years before it. Thus, for example, when he prays he is not reciting an
isolated prayer but a prayer based on all of his years of effort and struggle in
developing his ability to pray ands feel connected with G-d.
When he
prays, when he studies Torah, and when he performs mitzvos, the righteous
individual invests his entire being into what he is doing. All of his years of
effort and achievement are incorporated into the present actions. Therein lies the
beauty of old age. The action of someone with forty years of effort and
accomplishment cannot compare with the action of someone with eighty years of
effort and accomplishment. The same is true with every stage of life.
Simply by
living life one invariably develops wisdom and maturity. The whiteness of the
hair, the wrinkles, and the enfeebled body, are symbols that the person has
spent years in the perennial struggle for growth and accomplishment. The
elderly person who utilizes all of his life’s experience throughout his day is
truly worthy of respect and admiration.
He spends
his days writing a most beautiful eulogy, a eulogy based on a lifetime of
accomplishment.
“The years
of life that he lived”
“You are most beautiful of all people”
This
Sunday evening, 27 MarCheshvan, is the yahrtzeit of my Zaydei, Rav Yaakov Meir
Kohn zt’l. Zaydei remains one of my greatest inspirations in life. I feel that
is appropriate to say about Zaydei the words I have written above: “When he
prays, when he studies Torah, and when he performs mitzvos, the righteous
individual invests his entire being into what he is doing. All of his years of
effort and achievement are incorporated into the present actions… Simply by living life one invariably develops
wisdom and maturity… The elderly person who utilizes all of his life’s
experience throughout his day is truly worthy of respect and admiration.”
Zaydei
was nifar when he was 70 years old. I always wondered how different my life
could have been if I had been blessed to have had more years with him. He was a
person who inspired others by his example, perhaps his family most of all.
How
appropriate it is to conclude: “He spends his days writing a most beautiful
eulogy, a eulogy based on a lifetime of accomplishment.”
May
his memory be for a blessing.
Rabbi Dani Staum, LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance Counselor – ASHAR
Principal – Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor