Glen Rock Jewish Center, Conservative

A combination of challenging economic times and changing images of self in our older years has altered our approach to retirement. The Torah teaches us in this week’s reading a piece of wisdom that parallels the reality in our society that people continue to work and contribute in many ways into their later years. At age 50, the Levites who served in the Temple had to retire from their duties, but they did not have to retire completely from service.

The Torah does not suggest that the Levites who turn 50 must give up serving God as they have been for so many years. The Torah teaches the following lesson in this week’s reading:

"But at the age of 50 they shall retire from the work force and shall serve no more. They may assist their brother Levites at the Tent of Meeting by standing guard, but they shall perform no labor…."(Bamidbar 8:25-26)

While verse 25 seems to suggest that the Levites must retire completely at 50, the next verse reminds us that the Levites still have the ability to serve God and the community after they turn 50. It also shows that the community welcomed this involvement. The medieval commentators emphasize that the Levites will no longer carry the holy objects on their shoulders. Rashi (1040-1105, France) explains that instead of the heavy lifting, they will close the gates, sing, and help load carts. Rashi interprets the phrase "standing guard" (lishmor mishmeret) to mean that those who turn 50 will continue to camp near the tabernacle and help set it up and take it down when the Israelites move from place to place in the wilderness. God teaches us the lesson that at retirement age, whenever that may be for us, we still retain experience and expertise in our work. If our work is still meaningful to us at this point, then it may be important for us to continue to contribute our energy and hearts to our professions or to new tasks that we choose to pursue. Rashi’s commentary indicates that the Levites who age-out of the heavy lifting can still live and work in the same environment where they have been serving for so long.

After working so many years in our chosen professions, we can give back to those who are coming up in the ranks both in our fields and even to those who are, in general, just getting started. In Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Yehudah ben Teyma teaches, "ben chamishim la’etzah," "at 50 years we can give counsel" (Avot 5:21). From the fact that the Levites entered partial retirement at 50, we can generalize to those who reach retirement age, and we can learn to appreciate the wisdom that these individuals have gathered through the years. Rabbi Avraham Mordecai Magur recognized the connection between the mishnah from Avot and the verse that teaches about the Levites turning 50. He tells a story that helps us to realize the potential we have to empower those who are just beginning their careers and life journeys.

"A man was lost several days in the forest and did not know how to escape. Suddenly, he saw an older man walking towards him and he was happy to see this person. He said to himself: ‘Surely I will now know the right way to go.’ He asked him: ‘Where is the path out of the forest?’ The older man said: ‘I myself do not know. For 70 years I am lost here. I can tell you one thing: Do not try the path I tried. The right path is one that you must find yourself. This is advice (etzah) that a 50-year-old can give." (Itturei Torah, Vol 5, p. 54)

While the older man was unable to provide exact instructions as to how to leave the forest, he was able to offer advice that can be beneficial to those entering their careers and beginning their adult lives. The message is that the individual at the beginning has the opportunity to cut a new path and find his or her own way through life. An older colleague may be able to guide and mentor that person, but the individual must find his or her own path. Each of us has something important and unique to contribute to our chosen professions and to the world. Those who have been "in the business" for a long time know best what the challenges have been and they want to help younger colleagues find their way. Younger colleagues have a responsibility in turn to ensure that the older members are included, employed if they want, and treated with respect.

There is the sense, then, that retirement as a concept is a transition rather than an ending point. The passage regarding the Levites, coupled with Rabbi Yehudah ben Teyma’s teaching in the Mishnah, suggests that age 50, 65, or whatever age may be our retirement age, is the beginning of a new stage in life in which we can continue to contribute to the future. We can also continue to work, even if it is in a different capacity if we choose. The hard-won expertise that we gain after years of work, with all its challenges and with all that happens in our lives outside of the workplace, is a gift to the next generation that is priceless and meaningful. A colleague of mine, Rabbi Julie Roth, once said her job was to scatter seeds and tend them as they grow. May we all have the ability to teach the next generation lessons about work and life, and may those seeds grow and provide us the satisfaction of shade and sweetness.