Good to the last day

Retirement.  Is it a good idea?  Should there be a mandatory retirement age?  There are countries that require mandatory retirement based on age, and there are others that allow a person to work as long as he or she is able to do the job.  Does the Torah have a position on retirement? 

 

Well the Torah does address this subject, and it seems that there is indeed mandatory retirement based on age: “The Lord spoke to Moses saying. This is [the rule] concerning the Levites: From the age of twenty-five years and upwards, he shall enter the service to work in the Tent of Meeting. From the age of fifty he shall retire from the work legion, and do no more work.” (Bamidbar 8:23-25.)

 

But a closer look shows that it’s not so straight-forward.  The next verse says: “He shall minister with his brethren in the Tent of Meeting to keep the charge, but he shall not perform the service...”  What does this mean?  Does he work or does he not work after 50?

 

The meaning of these verses is as follows:  The Levites performed several services in the Sanctuary and the Holy Temple.  They locked and unlocked the gates and guarded the Temple at night, and they sang and played music to accompany the offerings and at various occasions.  There was another function that the Levites served once, when the Mishkan – the portable Sanctuary – was traveling through the desert.  It was a large building with many beams, poles, curtains, roof tapestries, animal skin covers, large furniture items and many utensils. 

 

Whenever the Divine cloud that rested on the Mishkan would rise up, the Levites would take the Mishkan apart and carry it to the next destination.  This required a lot of physical strength, and this activity was therefore limited to Levites between the age of 30 and 50.  (From the age of 25-30 was the training period.)  This is what the Torah is referring to with the words: “From the age of fifty he shall retire from the work legion.”

 

However, the other work of the Levites does not require this type of physical strength, and therefore “He shall minister with his brethren in the Tent of Meeting to keep the charge.”  Rambam says that a Levite may continue singing until his voice is no longer viable, but even after that he may continue locking and unlocking the door.

 

There is a fundamental principle in Torah that people were created to be productive and contribute to the welfare of the world.  Hashem gave us the gift of being partners with Him in the creation and sustenance of the world.  As long as He gives us life and strength, we have a contribution to make and we must use our strength, our talents, our experience, knowledge and abilities to further goodness and light.  “A person was born to toil,” says the Torah (Iyov 5:7).  When we work and are productive, not only are we benefiting the world but we also feel fulfilled and useful, because this is how we are made up and this is how we find meaning in life.  It may seem as if retiring and relaxing is more enjoyable, but in the long run it is only through productive work that we really enjoy a full life.

 

So while it is certainly ok to change the pace of our work and find more gentle work, we should never shut ourselves down and make ourselves irrelevant.  When the Rebbe celebrated his 70th birthday, people asked him about the verse in Tehillim:  “The days of our years are 70 years.”  He responded with the continuation of the verse: “And if with strength 80 years,” and proceeded to found 71 new institutions in that year alone!

 

The Levites may not have done any heavy lifting, but they continued to sing, open and close doors and teach.  If you have retired from your prior job, you can still bring music to the world, you can help open and close opportunities for the next generation and teach and mentor our youth.  You have a lot to give, it’s important to live up to your full potential every day of your life.