Page 16 - HaMizrachi_Chayei Sarah_USA_2020

GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt”l

One’s Real Age

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

“Was there a plague here?” he asked. םי ִ מָּי ַּ ב א ָּ ב ן ֵ קָז ם ָ ה ָ ר ְ ב ַ א ְ ו means not only was Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt”l was the Rishon
LeTzion, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of
“A pogrom? Why did everybody here Avraham old in years, but he filled all Israel, from 1973 to 1983, and author of the
die so young?” of his days with Torah and mitzvot. authoritative halachic work, Yalkut Yosef.

16 | Illustrative photo courtesy of Koren Publishers Jerusalem