Old age isn't what you think it is

We devotees of Beit Knesset Hanassi are not unfamiliar with comments made by outsiders--and occasionally even by ourselves--about our shul's age profile. Yes, we do have many seniors in our midst, and this is something we are proud of. We are a community that cares, a community that respects the values of experience and judgement that come with age. But every so often we are surprised to find that, viewed through the eyes of others, maybe we are not that old at all!

In "Sheila Patz: a 100-year old woman's secret to a long life", our member Pessy Krausz (below, right) investigates the remarkable positivity of a woman who makes it plain that the secret of a long life is to thrive on challenge. 

Pessy's article, which is published in the Jerusalem Report and hosted on the Jerusalem Post website, can be read (or listened to) in full here.  

To whom are we crying out?

Only a couple of days ago, fasting and disguised as malachim, angels, we had cause to cry out אַל תַּשְׁלִיכֵנִי לְעֵת זִקְנָה ("Al tashlicheni le'et ziknah": "do not cast me out in the time of old age!"). This emotive petition, drawn from Tehillim 71:9, is one of the most poignant moments of our Selichot services and features right through Yom Kippur.

 Today I found myself wondering: while we call out to God not to cast us away when we grow old, how do we regard our fellow humans? Do we expect God not to cast them out, while we turn our own backs on them and write them off as relics of an earlier time?

People often joke at Beit Knesset Hanassi being associated with "Young Israel" when it has so many members in their seventies, eighties and, yes,even in their nineties. But here at Hanassi we see evidence that everyone's life can be valued and that we can all be called upon to give as well as take, and to contribute to the well-being of our community.

Today I bought a couple of sets of arba minim from Rabbi Jay Karzen, a senior citizen if ever there was one--and an active contributor to life. We had a little chat, he helped me choose the etrogim and I came away feeling that I had gained more than a lulav, a citron and a selection of leaves. I felt proud to be part of a community where old folk are appreciated for who, and what, they are. We shall not cast them out!