Rabbi Joshua Haberman, the rabbi emeritus of Washington Hebrew Congregation, offered a touching and instructive lecture on "The Mixed Blessing of Aging" at Ohr Kodesh on Sunday, January 24. His presentation was part of the special Sunday Scholar series being offered by friends of Rabbi Fishman to honor his 25th anniversary with the congregation.

Rabbi Haberman suggested at the outset that he has the bona fides to speak on the topic, having recently celebrated his 90th birthday. He began by asking whether we truly want the Biblical "meyah v'esrim" - the fabled "120 years" of life. Are the final years worth living? He answered with a resounding "yes!"

He noted that while traditional western culture denigrates the aged, the Biblical view is expressed by the aphorism "a gray head is a crown of glory." He noted that in the United States, the elderly often suffer from a high degree of social ostracism, and warned that the "attitude of the environment may become one's self-image." He acknowledged that old age does bring with it changes in mental acuity and physical capability, but argued that these changes are not all negative. He pointed to many examples of elderly individuals who continue to be creative and actively contribute into their 8th 9th and even 10th decade, and suggested that all institutions, including Jewish communal institutions, should "recruit, rather than retire the elderly" and take advantage of their accumulated wisdom.

Pointing to what he called the "compensations of aging," Rabbi Haberman suggested that the elderly can gain tranquility, enjoy the cooling of passions, and gain the ability to let things go. Further, having faced the greatest challenges of life (career, marriage, raising children, etc.) the elderly can take the opportunity to savor life without also having to withstand the pressure to succeed. More humorously, he suggested that the elderly can be "liberated from the compulsion of setting everyone straight."  He also opined that old age can, for the fortunate, be a time to rejoice in children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren.

Following his remarks, Rabbi Haberman engaged the attendees in a spirited and insightful round of questions and answers.

The next in our Sunday Lecture Series will take place on Sunday, February 21 at 7:00 PM with Dr. Erica Brown speaking on Spiritual Boredom: Rediscovering the Wonder of Judaism (re-scheduled from the December snow cancellation). This session will explore the nature of boredom through general philosophy, psychology and Jewish texts in an attempt to understand what boredom is, how it affects the spiritual life, pervades our parenting, impacts our Jewish institutions and limits our discovery of wonder within our tradition. 

For the text of the talk, please use the following link: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/health/newoldage/haberman.sermon.pdf