Parshat Behaalotecha 5769: Mom’s Retirement

This week, a lot goes on in Torah. Yet there is one obscure passage brought up during a Torah discussion that was rather timely,

23. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24. This is it what concerns the Levites: from twenty five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the Tent of Meeting; 25. And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon its service, and shall serve no more; 26. But shall minister with their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to guard the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites concerning their charge. [Numbers 8]

Much of the discussion surrounded the mandatory retirement age of fifty. Much of the conversation surrounded the idea of a mandatory retirement. But much of the conversation made an assumption, based on the idea of a western view of retirement. The western view is that when one retires one stops working completely and lives a life of leisure. This however is not reflected in this text,. Levites will stop in doing the tasks of worship but will continue to guard the charge. But what do we mean by guard? Are they not able to do service but are able to stand sentry duty?
The verbal root SH-M-R used here had many meanings, including to guard, to keep, and to observe. I don’t believe sentry duty is what is meant here. The Aramaic translations, known as Targums, have the word l’mitar. The root here, N-T-R has meanings closely related to Sh-M-R. MaTaR also means to drip or to rain. The N-T-R root also has one more meaning: to preserve. Looking at the rain outside dripping down some trees, I was reminded of the beginning of the Perkei Avot:

Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the men of the great assembly. The latter used to say three things: be patient in [the administration of] justice, rear many disciples and make a fence round the Torah. [Avot 1:1]

A tree collects rain and drips it down to the saplings below, allowing them to grow. So too does Moses drip the Oral Law down to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders. The fence around Torah is that same oral law, transmitted and evaluated by each generation. In every aspect of life there are things that are not written down. Someone often orally transmits them to the next generation. When that does not happen, the subtle knowledge of hope to do something is lost.
Later in the Perkei Avot we read a famous schedule of the stages of life.

He used to say: five years [is the age] for [the study of] scripture, ten-for [the study of] Mishnah, thirteen-for [becoming subject to] commandments, fifteen-for [the study of] Talmud, eighteen- for the [bridal] canopy, twenty — for pursuing, thirty-for [full] strength, forty — for understanding, fifty- for [ability to give] counsel…[Avot 5:21]

One can quibble with the time table of course, though this is one of the two places in Mishnah where the age of a bar mitzvah is mentioned. The rabbis here too, linking our verse to the life of everyone, claim that it is at fifty one is able to counsel others. Retirement is not ending one’s work life; it is entering a new stage. A verse from Psalms reads:

34. Give me understanding, and I shall keep your Torah; I shall guard it with my whole heart. [ps119]

Up through forty everything we do contributes to our understanding of Torah and life. It is at fifty, the retirement age we become a sage. It is then we use our knowledge to preserve the tradition through the three saying of the Great Assembly: judging the law, teaching it to as many we can, and guarding the fences of that tradition.
While the actual age is not important, there is a point in our lives we change from a worker to a sage. The Torah forbid priests who were fifty and older from making sacrifices, but they were there to make sure all the active priests did it right. It was that D’var Torah I gave the day after that Torah discussion, at my Mom’s retirement party. After many years of work, she’s decided to stop doing the 40-hour daily grind. To celebrate that event we had a party of family and close friends. Up until the party I had nothing to say, but on the way to the party I thought about the retirement of the Levite, and gave this short D’var Torah. But then I noted something else. Shlomo’s Drash could not have existed without her. The resources and knowledge in this weekly column came from her efforts. I had the desire and put in a lot of work to learn Hebrew, Aramaic, Tanach, Mishnah and Targum, but finding the ways to fund that education was all her.
She’s beginning a new part of her life now. It is not just sitting around enjoying a leisurely life. It is a lot of taking time to steer grandkids in the ethical and spiritual directions she herself has mastered. Parents are often too busy or too often thought the disciplinarian. Grandma and Grandpa are different, and can do things parents can’t. She’s the one who now tells the stories of the family, to drip them down to the next generation. She’s going to be there to give advice on the many things she is such an expert at to me and the rest of our family.
In my forties, I’m still struggling to gain understanding, I’m far from the stage she is now. She and I will share travel together and I will cherish every moment of her wisdom and understanding during those trips. There’s so much left for me to learn.
So I dedicate this Drash to My mom. Thanks Mom for everything and for everything yet to come.