As most of you know I turn 40 this month. And if I
was not feeling my age, the Lord in infinite wisdom provided me with a
wonderful lesson.
As most of you also know, I am typing this article
with a broken hand. Suffered while attempting to make a jumping stop at
second. No, I didn't make the play (note my word attempting). And as I
recover, I am reminded each day that I am not as young as I used to be.
You reach a point where your body can no longer keep
up with your heart, and the reality is the body wins. By now I should
have enough sense to weigh the consequences of diving for a softball. I
guess I haven't yet.
Which is ironic, because according to Pirke Avot, at
40, I have reached the age of discernment. In other words, by about now
I should have known better.
By the time we reach 40 most of us should not only
know better but should also have our lives in order. Be headed in a good
direction. Be comfortable with our livelihoods and lives in general. And
yet it seems there are many people who are either closing in on this age
or have already soared past it without finding their place in this
world. Is it too late?
It's never too late, as our tradition also teaches us
something about what can happen even in middle-age.
Our greatest leader, the exemplar of Jewish vision
and scholarship began his career at 40, if not older. Moshe Rabbenu,
Moses our teacher, spent roughly 40 years in Egypt, with little if any
connection to his people. He didn't lead our people out of Egypt until
he was 80.
While we don't have to be Moses (and we might not get
the 120 years he did), our Torah teaches by example that we are never
too old to be great, to be the greatest. And by learning and studying,
our tradition not only permits us, but enables us, to make the journey
toward realizing our potential at any age.
More than 1,000 years after Moses, Akiba was a
Jewishly illiterate shepherd who was simply trudging through life until
he reached his 40th year. Akiba, noticing a stone at a well that had
been hollowed out by drippings from the buckets, said: "If these
drippings can penetrate this solid stone, how much more powerfully can
the word of God enter the human heart." He went and sat with the
5-year-old students learning the alef-bet, and worked his way quickly
through his studies. His humility and dedication resulted in his ability
to advance quickly. Soon he was a great teacher, acquired many students
of his own, and his scholarship and inspiration resonates even today.
All this from an individual completely disconnected from Jewish learning
for the first half of his life.
There are many modern stories of people who have had relatively late
changes of direction in life. Some remarkable biographies of mid-life
transitions are well known — others, less celebrated. What we learn from
all these testimonies is the potential of the human spirit.
We must never forget that life provides opportunities at every age. And
the door that opens for us at 40, 50, 60, 70 or even beyond, may not
have been there when we were 20.
I hope none of us is afraid to step through it when
the time comes. Whenever the time comes. I hope this summer allows us
some time to reach our potential. And on the way, just don't break
anything.
B'Shalom,
Rabbi Mark Blazer
rabbi@templebethami.org
