Too Old? The Torah’s Surprising Answer — In the Rebbe’s Own Words

In this powerful address from Motzoei Shabbos Eikev, 20 Av 5740 (1980), the Rebbe challenges the modern view of “retirement” and the notion that advancing in age means stepping aside. Instead, the Rebbe illuminates the Torah’s perspective — that our later years are a time of unparalleled opportunity to grow in goodness, kindness, and especially Torah study. With warmth and urgency, the Rebbe describes the dignity, vitality, and true honor found in Kolel Tiferes Zekeinim Levi Yitzchok, where seniors study Torah not as a favor from others, but as partners with the One Above Himself. This is a stirring call to see age not as decline, but as elevation — a time to learn, teach, and shine. #TheRebbe #Chabad #ColelChabad #TiferesLeviYitzchok #TorahStudy #JewishWisdom Transcript When, for whatever reason, a person becomes elder in years, or for whatever reason he has become old in relation with his work, and in the language of the country, he has “retired” or “has to retire” or “a little retired,” it causes him to feel that he became weak, worthless, an “old man”, and an “older Jew”, and a burden on all those around him, and they send him to a nursing home, and they do him a favor that they come visit him once every few days, and they make him feel that he should understand, or that he better understand, that they are self-sacrificing themselves by not playing golf, or going on a walk or swimming in the lake or on the beach, and they have self-sacrifice to run in for a half an hour (visit) to say “Hello” and “How are you feeling,” and they don’t have time to wait to hear the answer and already run out. and (the child) emphasizes that he pays a fortune in nursing home costs, etc. which this isn’t the time to expound on as it is connected to matters which they call “culture,” that in the name of progress they also advanced the techniques and the ways of the world, so when a person becomes fifty years of age, he must give room to the young person and must retire from work because he, Heaven forbid, is already half “retired from life” – to the contrary of what the Torah of truth states that it is actually these years that he can utilize to dedicate in all matters of goodness, charity and righteousness, until, all the more so, simply studying diligently in Torah, which isn’t simply Torah but the wisdom of the Creator who has given us His Torah – this is the Torah of the One Above himself… And when he sits to learn in the Kolel Tiferes Zekenim Levi Yitzchok, The One Above sits down across him and learns together with him a verse from Chumash, or a saying from Ein Yaakov or Gemara or (halachic) poskim, each person according to his own measure, and the One Above sits as an old person, as mentioned in Gemara and Midrash that during the giving of the Torah, (Hashem) seemed to them like an elder person, and it is there (at the kollel) that he will sit like an honorable person. No one will do him favors or ask him to therefore pay or owe gratitude to anyone until the end of time. No one does him favors – he learns the Torah of the One Above and studies it with liveliness and with a chavrusa (learning partner), and he sees that he better understands it than a younger person, and he understands it until he can learn it with a another person The Rebbe​ Motzoei Shabbos Eikev; 20 Av 5740 (1980):