Page 16 - HaMizrachiChayei Sarah AUS 2020

GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt”l

One’s Real Age

n Parashat Chayei Sarah, it says “No Rabbi,” the Mayor explained. filled all of his days with Torah and
םי ִ מָּי ַּ ב א ָּ ב ן ֵ ק ָז ם ָ ה ָ ר ְ ב ַ א ְ ו “Avraham was “In this town, everybody keeps track mitzvot. Not just one hour or two,
Inow old, advanced in years.” What of all the time they spend each day but from dawn to dusk – hachna-
does this double language mean? Why learning Torah and doing mitzvot. At sat orchim, spreading G-d’s Name to
does the Torah write both “old” and the end of the day, we each count up the world, teaching people all about
“advanced in years”? those hours and write them down on monotheism.
a little pad. At the end of the week,
A Rabbi once visited a town he had we each tally up our total hours for Avraham Avinu knew his purpose
never been to before. The locals gave the week, say 7–10 hours. At the end in life and devoted every waking
their honored guest a tour, taking of the month, we do another tally – moment to fulfilling it. He spent every
him to see the shul, the school, the this could be 20 or 30 hours. And at day learning Torah and doing mitzvot,
mikveh and even the kosher super- the end of the year, we do the math. balancing mitzvot between man and
market. And then they took him to Same when anyone dies. We add up G-d with mitzvot between man and
man. He understood the value of time
the cemetery. the total amount of time they spent and defining one’s priorities in life.
learning Torah and doing mitzvot. For
The Rabbi was shocked to see that all this person, it was 10 years, for that The father of our nation set a high
the matzeivot, gravestones, testified to person 12. The ages on the matzeivot standard for us to emulate.
children who had died young: Reuven, are their Torah ages, not their biolog-
12 years old. Shimon, 11 years old. ical ones.” Excerpted from one of Rav Ovadia’s weekly
Levi, 15 years old, and so on. parasha shiurim.
A sobering message. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt”l was the Rishon
“Was there a plague here?” he asked. LeTzion, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of
“A pogrom? Why did everybody here םי ִ מָּי ַּ ב א ָּ ב ן ֵ קָז ם ָ ה ָ ר ְ ב ַ א ְ ו means not only Israel, from 1973 to 1983, and author of the
die so young?” was Avraham old in years, but he authoritative halachic work, Yalkut Yosef.

16 | Illustrative photo courtesy of Koren Publishers Jerusalem