By Yochanan Gordon
October 7th will probably be the most written about subject than any event we have endured in modern history, aside from the Holocaust. Clearly, our enemies had the designs to replicate that act of genocide; they just simply lacked the wherewithal. Initially, I was going to write about something different in my weekly column, but the more I thought about it, the more I saw a clear connection between October 7 and the Holocaust, which I wanted to share with you.
In America the date of October 7 is written 10/7. In Israel, they use the European system of putting the day ahead of the month, and so it is rendered 7/10. In the aftermath of 9/11, there were a number of analyses as to why Osama Bin Laden masterminded his evil plot for that day. One reason given was that 9/11 is the phone number one dials in an emergency situation. It demonstrates that our enemies are extremely meticulous in devising their evil plots against us, and we need to be similarly reflective when it comes to our response to them.
There is a famous convenience store that people visit at all hours which is called 7/11. In fact, not too long ago, a number of these stores opened across Israel. 7/11 got its name as a result of its hours, which were initially 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. However, for as long as I can remember the 7/11 was open twenty-four hours, seven days a week, and that is how they are known: always open and always reliable to provide whatever snack we are craving any time of day or night.
The day our enemies chose to unleash this horror was 7/10, which is one number short of 7/11. This means, in a spiritual sense, that we were perhaps wanting in our dedication and service to Hashem, which may have initially contributed to the success of their plot to sow chaos and horror, atrocities that will be seared in our minds forever.
It wasn’t a regular October 7 when these events occurred. The day fell on Simchat Torah, the day on which we rejoice upon completing the annual cycle of Torah readings with Parashat V’Zot HaBerachah and begin again with Bereishis. The idea of beginning again upon completion is to blur the lines between start and finish, to symbolize that the Torah is an endless cycle with no beginning or end, an infinite loop. As long as G-d gives us life, we should look upon it as an opportunity to add light to the world with the awareness that if we don’t constantly add light, that vacuum will be filled with darkness.
One of the ideas in our modern society that has become prevalent is the notion of retirement. People work hard for a number of years and look forward to a time when they can live a more relaxed and pressure-free life. Depending on how much wealth they have acquired, they buy homes in Florida and Eretz Yisrael, and fly from one to the other until they simply can’t anymore. But aging is a natural part of life. Each creature wanes from the moment of its birth. However, there is a Peter Pan syndrome that resists “growing up” and aging gracefully. They wish to continually project a younger appearance rather than embracing their senior years with grace. There is a slew of aesthetic procedures that people routinely avail themselves of to continue to project a youthful appearance even as their physical vigor dissipates.
Aging was introduced to the world in the days of our forefather Jacob in order to give people the opportunity to appreciate the tenuousness of life and to be able to work towards fulfilling their mission in this world before their allotted time is up. In the days of Avraham and Yitzchak, there were no physical signs of aging, not even white hairs, and it was impossible for a person to project that their time on this earth was nearing its end. So, while the physical signs of aging were introduced as a kindness for people to lead introspective and meaningful lives while fulfilling their G-d-given mission, G-d grants added strength, vigor, and youthfulness to those who live their lives to the fullest. The Gemara states: The elders of all the nations grow impatient and become increasingly irritable with age while the senior Torah scholars become increasingly settled. The verse states: “Those who hope towards G-d experience restored vigor and grow wings to figuratively run without tiring.”
The reality is that while people seek to diminish the physical signs of aging, they are at the same time allowing their Avodah to diminish. The lesson of 7/10 is that our Avodas Hashem is supposed to mimic the constancy of the 7/11 convenience store and not expire by a certain date while we continue to pamper ourselves materially, focusing on maintaining our youthfulness while turning a blind eye toward maintaining and growing our relationship with G-d.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov famously quipped: “I don’t want old Chassidim.” He meant that he wasn’t against his Chassidim aging, he was cautioning against Chassidim who lived with an old mindset.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe zt’l was interviewed by the NY Times on the occasion of his ninetieth birthday. When the interviewer asked him: “What message do you want to impart to the world in honor of your ninetieth birthday?” The Rebbe said that the letter in the Hebrew alphabet that corresponds to the number ninety is the letter tzaddik which means righteousness. The message is that although people who reach the age of ninety think they have the right to slow down a little, the Torah teaches us to grow in righteousness even at that advanced age. Hence, old age should be no hindrance to growth and piety.
We read last week that G-d’s eyes are upon the land from the beginning of the year until the end of the year. One of the way’s G-d in His most transcendent levels is referred to is as atik yomin, ancient of days. We have a mitzvah to emulate Hashem. If Hashem, thousands of years later, continues to do His part to watch over us, we must also continue to serve Him faithfully, emulating our Guardian who neither slumbers nor sleeps. And we are obligated to perform this selfless act regardless of the year on our birth certificate. As King David states in Psalm 92, “[The righteous] will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, ‘Hashem is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” G’mar Chatima Tova to all.