Reflections on Fifty
March 17, 2008
“Judah ben Temah taught: At five a boy is ready to study Torah, at ten he is ready to study Mishnah, at thirteen he is ready to be responsible for the mitzvot, at fifteen he is ready to study Talmud, at eighteen he is ready to get married, at twenty he is ready to pursue a living, at thirty he reaches full strength, at forty he reaches understanding, at fifty he is able to give counsel, at sixty he reaches maturity, at eighty one reaches strong old age…” (Pirke Avot)
Twenty years ago this month, I was serving as Assistant Rabbi at my former pulpit in San Francisco, and I was in the midst of celebrating my 30th birthday. As coincidence would have it, my Senior Rabbi also was having a milestone birthday - his 50th. It was also a highlight occasion for our Cantor, who was turning 60. The Temple President one evening noticed that if we added up the ages of the three Temple clergy, the sum of 140 represented the precise anniversary of the founding of the Temple itself. Needless to say, a special celebration was planned to mark the occasion, and the “Thirty - Fifty - Sixty” event has gone down in the annals of both the temple and the three of us “birthday boys.”
I remember gently teasing my elder colleagues when it was my turn to take the podium that night: “I don’t want to accuse Rabbi Weiner of getting old,” I said, “but still, you have to wonder why his last three sermons were on the empty-nest syndrome, social security, and Polygrip!”
How is it possible then, that in the blink of an eye, I am now the Senior Rabbi preparing to turn 50? And although my sermon on Polygrip has yet to be delivered, the needling has long since begun! “What goes around, comes around”, so I guess it is payback time in some respects.
Milestone birthdays give us - or should I say, force us - to look backward and ahead as we take stock of the years of our lives. The text from Pirke Avot cited above is a powerful reminder of the steady progress of that journey. It also comes to teach me that, although I am nearer to the end of my rabbinic career than to its beginning, I am only now gaining the fullness of experience and hopefully the accompanying wisdom to offer as guidance for others in their own life’s journey. I hope the years bring with them the gift of insight and discernment, for certainly, every day continues to bring its own unique challenges and opportunities, even as was the case when I was a younger rabbi.
In our Jewish tradition, a birthday is considered to be something of a mini “Rosh Hashanah”; an occasion to gather with family and friends, to learn a bit of Torah, to give thanks to God, and to make some gifts of tzedakah. I am planning all of the above, and I am also looking forward celebrating with all our Temple “family” during our annual Jazz concert later this month. Thank-you to our Temple Brotherhood for honoring me in such a special way.
Now, about that Polygrip…
