May You Live To Be One Hundred and Twenty

The traditional Jewish greeting for a birthday is “Ad meah v’esreem – may you live to be one hundred and twenty.” That was Moses’ age upon his death, and the age our tradition bids us to wish for others and ourselves. According to the Torah, at the end of Moses’ life, his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated. One of my favorite midrashim notes is that God took Moses’ soul with a kiss.

While none of our congregants are quite as old as Moses, national statistics show that we are living longer and that seniors are the most rapid growing segment of the Jewish population. Similar trends are reflected in our own membership. Each month, new retirees are joining Temple Beth El. Like Moses, their eyes are undimmed and their vigor unabated. They want to be a part of all that Beth El has to offer.

In an effort to respond to the three hundred vibrant members of Temple who are of retirement age, we are putting together a Senior Task Force that will be chaired by past President Barbara Katz. We will be gathering focus groups, sending out questionnaires, and researching other offerings for seniors in Shalom Park and around the country. I am confident that our work will yield an expanded Beth El Senior Program that will meet the diverse needs of our active community of retirees.

In recent conversations with our general membership, great suggestions have emerged such as regularly scheduled Lunch and Learn lectures with our new Chef Lori Pearson or an Adopt-a-Grandparent program where younger families can be matched with seniors to help us build a stronger, more connected intergenerational congregation. This Task Force will enable us to bring to life such wonderful ideas.

There is a beautiful Yiddish expression, “To the unlearned, old age is winter. To the learned, it is harvest time.” Not only do we aim as a congregation to lift up the lives of those in all ages of our community, but we know that our seniors can also lift up us -- for they are our greatest untapped resource. Our seniors are seasoned professionals who have wisdom, experience and time to share. As we open our doors and our arms even further to those who built up our congregation or other congregations around our country, the rewards will be great.