Personal
On this page you will find articles that focus on those chance or passing moments in our personal lives that appear to be outwardly small but are significant nonetheless for their influence upon our mood, our feelings of connection with others, and our spiritual lives.
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Retiring
At its best, retirement celebrates the unique contributions we have made and looks
ahead toward the promises the next phase of our life holds in store. At its worst,
retirement raises fears that we are no longer "useful," and it can create a
crisis of identity for those who define themselves by the work they do. How do we
experience retirement as a beginning, not an ending? Yitz Greenberg teaches, "La’erev
(doing it again) applies to all of life. Middle age and old age are a time to create
again, especially so in this generation as the human life span increases and vitality
extends beyond the conventional retirement age…The mitzvah of la’erev
evokes the ‘second effort’ which brings the long-distance runner home. People
who create again, who break new ground as they grow, make a further major contribution to
the increase of life over death…In the process, they keep their own lives
vital." (Torah of Life)
Meditation:
In my retirement, may I be granted opportunities to love, to learn, and to make the world a better place. May I be blessed with health, contentment and companionship.
Ritual:
Find yourself role models for the kind of retirement you desire: the person who learns a new skill or hobby, the former business executive who takes time to tutor young protégés, the community leader who continues to find new ways to grow and contribute, the man or woman who seizes the opportunity to deepen relationships with friends and loved ones. Keep their stories with you and their example in mind as you make the decisions big and small that mark the transition between what was and what will be.
Blessing:
(As you select your role models)
So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
(Psalm 90:12).
Teaching:
In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hands be idle, since you
do not know which is going to succeed…(Ecclesiastes 11:6)
Rabbi Simeon ben Judah said in the name of Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai: Beauty and strength,
wealth and honor, wisdom and age, gray hair and children are comely to the righteous and
comely to the world, as it is said: "Gray hair is a crown of glory, to be found in
the path of righteousness."
(Pirke Avot 6:8)
An elderly and wise woman once gave me some excellent advice: "Aaron,"
she said, "it is very important as you get older, to engage in an activity that you
didn’t engage in when you were very young, so that you are not continually in
competition with yourself as a young man."
(Aaron Copland, The New Music 1900-1969)
The joy of passing on wisdom to younger people not only seeds the future, but
crowns an elder’s life with worth and nobility.
(Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, From Age-ing to Sage-ing)
(CLAL Faculty)
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