opinion
Respect (and Make Good
Use of) Your Elders
BY RABBI RICHARD F. ADDRESS
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T he statistics for Jewish elders should startle you.

According to the 2020 Pew study of the
American Jewish community, close to 50% of
our community is over 50. In the USA alone, the
Census Bureau tells us that by 2035 the number
of people over 65 will be greater than the number
under 18.

In truth, thanks to advances in public health and
medical technology, we are living longer and bet-
ter than any other Jewish cohort of elders. Yet, in
many instances, the institutional Jewish commu-
nity has been myopic in its approach to us.

We still have a huge and successful communal
network for illness, housing and social service
support. Outside of this network, though, in many con-
gregations the cohort of well and active elders is
often overlooked, save for being seen as a poten-
tial economic resource. The challenge is to har-
ness the huge reservoir of “spiritual capital” that
exists in our community of people in their 50s,
60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond, most of whom
are active, alert and seeking a renewed sense of
meaning and purpose.

Thus, as a new year dawns, I suggest a renewed
emphasis on our cohort of z’keinim elders: It is
time for a year of celebration of Jewish elders.

There is much that can be done to meet the
needs of this growing multigenerational cohort.

Yes, this is a multigenerational cohort, for the
needs of a 55-year-old may be different than
those of an 85-year-old. Yet they also face similar
issues as family dynamics change and the pas-
sage of time becomes more relevant. To this end,
here are some thoughts on how a congregation or
organization can begin to actualize this often-un-
tapped reservoir of life experience.

There is a ritual to celebrate wisdom and aging
within our tradition called simchat chochmah. This
is a prayer, often recited in public at a service,
that has an individual — often around a significant
birthday — acknowledging the gift of life, the
acquisition of wisdom and the lessons learned
from life experience.

It is a wonderful way of keeping the idea of
creative prayer as a living and evolving aspect of
Jewish life, as well as a practical way of continu-
ing to engage older members. This is part of an
explosion of creative rituals being developed that
speak to new life stages and reflect this cohort’s
desire for a Judaism that speaks to them in an
adult and mature manner.

As a new year dawns, I suggest a renewed
emphasis on our cohort of z’keinim elders:
It is time for a year of celebration of Jewish elders.

The spiritual reservoir of life experience rep-
resented by this multigenerational cohort needs
to be elevated. Why not, as some congregations
have done, create mentoring programs that make
use of the life experience of elders in teaching
their life skills in religious school?
For example: Have that retired engineer help
in the lesson on building the Temple, or the doc-
tor discuss the ethics involved in end-of-life or
medical rationing or that retired lawyer as part of
a conversation on linkages between secular law
and parallels in Jewish law?
Likewise, make use of the growing cohort of
Jewish grandparents that “grand-parent” in many
ways differently than previous generations.

How many congregations have begun to discuss
the impact of interfaith marriage and multifaith
households on this generation of grandparents?
Social justice issues are also possibilities for
programming. Issues such as Jewish views on
health care, equity in access, mental and physical
health are fertile grounds for discussion as they
have Jewish textual foundations.

These discussions all lead to basic conversa-
tions that need to be had from a Jewish tradi-
tional and textual foundation — conversations that
speak to the desire on the part of our cohort for
a mature Jewish spirituality and a Judaism that
speaks to the new life stages that longevity has
granted us. JE
Rabbi Richard F. Address is the founder and direc-
tor of jewishsacredaging.com.

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