Triennial Cycle III: Lev. 19:15-20:27
Humash Etz Hayim, page 696
Haftarah: Amos 9:7-15, page 705
- (19:15-22) Miscellaneous mitzvot that express the overall theme of this Torah portion, including just judicial proceedings and love of one’s neighbor.
- (19:23-25) The laws of orlah, prohibiting the use of a tree’s produce until its fourth year of bearing fruit.
- (19:26-37) Warnings regarding other commandments, including the prohibition of eating blood, the prohibition of pagan and occult practices, the commandments to respect the aged, just treatment of the stranger, and honest weights and measures.
- (20:1-7) Repetition of the prohibition of idol worship and occult practices.
- (20:8-21) Miscellaneous prohibitions.
- (20:22-27) A concluding passage for the laws of holiness and purity, whose purpose is to sanctify the Jewish people and make them distinctive among the nations.
The Blessings and Challenges of Honoring the Elderly and Growing Older
You shall rise before the aged and show deference to the old; you shall fear your God; I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:32
You need only rise before one to whom deference is due, one who is “old,” zaken- zeh kana hokhmah, one who has acquired wisdom. And how does one show this ‘deference’? By not sitting in his place and not contradicting him. Rashi on Leviticus 19:32 (9-10th century France)
…Rabbi Yochanan said: ‘The final decision of the law is as Isi the son of Yehudah interpreted it.’ Thus scripture is commanding [in the first half of the verse] to honor any old man, even the uncultured, that is, the unlearned… the term zaken (old) [in the second half of the verse, which clearly means “one who has acquired wisdom”] came and indicated that the term seivah (aged) includes all kinds of old age, whether old in the knowledge of Torah or old in days. Nachmanides on Leviticus 19:32 (13th century Spain)
The graying of the North American Jewish population is dramatic and undeniable. According to the 2000-2001 National Jewish Population Survey, at least 19 percent of North American Jews, or nearly one million individuals, are sixty-five years of age or older, compared with 12 percent of Americans in general. This growth of the Jewish elderly population is seen ever more vividly in the fact that 23 percent of American Jews are over sixty years of age. Moreover, the fastest-growing segment of the Jewish community is those seventy-five and older. People are living ever longer, thus many of us can look forward to two or three decades of being old. Many families have two generations of elderly people—”grandparents” in their sixties or seventies, and “great-grandparents” in their eighties or nineties. This “age wave” has profound implications for the Jewish community. Friedman, Jewish Pastoral Care, 345
What a person lives by is not only a sense of belonging but also a sense of indebtedness. The need to be needed corresponds to a fact: something is asked of man, of every man. Advancing in years must not be taken to mean a process of suspending the requirements and commitments under which a person lives. To be is to obey. A person must never cease to be. Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom, To Grow in Wisdom, 78
What are the basic spiritual ills of old age? (1) The sense of being useless to, and rejected by, family and society; (2) the sense of inner emptiness and boredom; (3) loneliness and the fear of time…
Reverence for the old, dialogue between generations, is as important to the dignity of the young as it is for the wellbeing of the old. We deprive ourselves by disparaging the old…
We must seek ways to overcome the traumatic fear of being old, the prejudice, the discrimination against those advanced in years. All men are created equal, including those advanced in years. Being old is not necessarily the same as being stale. The effort to restore the dignity of old age will depend upon our ability to revive the equation of old age and wisdom. Wisdom is the substance upon which the inner security of the old will forever depend. But the attainment of wisdom is the work of a life time.
Old men need a vision, not only recreation. Old men need a dream, not only a memory.
It takes three things to attain a sense of significant being: God, a soul, and a moment. And the three are always here. Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy. Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom, To Grow in Wisdom, 84
The test of a people is how it behaves toward the old. It is easy to love children. Even tyrants and dictators make a point of being fond of children. But the affection and care for the old, the incurable, the helpless are the true gold mines of a culture. Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom, To Grow in Wisdom, 72
Additional Resource: Friedman, Jewish Visions For Aging