Chaye Sarah. The wisdom of Old Age

Parashat Chayei Sarah is a parasha of transition.

It opens with the death of Sarah, and it closes with the death of the first patriarch, Abraham.Between these two endings, there are two new beginnings at the very heart of life: the marriage of Isaac, and Abraham’s remarriage.

For Abraham, even after the loss of his beloved, another chapter of life awaits him. And in it he is blessed, as the verse tells us:

וְאַבְרָהָם זָקֵן בָּא בַיָּמִים וַיהוָה בֵּרַךְ אֶת־אַבְרָהָם בַּכֹּל

"And Abraham was old, advanced in years; and the Eternal had blessed Abraham in all things." (Bereshit 24:1)

We already know that Abraham is old. Isn’t that exactly what Sarah said in the previous parasha, upon hearing the surprising announcement that the elderly couple would finally have a son?

Yet the Talmud tells us:

"Until Abraham, there was no old age."

Ziknah—old age—in Jewish thought is synonymous with wisdom.The elder is the sage.

And according to the Kedushat Levi, it is thanks to wisdom that the Divine Presence dwells among us.

How?

Through our good deeds (maasim tovim).Not the commandments—what we are instructed to do or not do—but acts of kindness, hesed, when we choose to go beyond the strict minimum.

An important reminder that wisdom does not lie in words, but in actions.