Avot351

Today's shiur is dedicated by Jay Slater and Ellen Goldmuntz
in celebration of the birth of their grand-daughter,
Chaya Mirel bat Nechemiah v'Sara D'vasha
and in honour of Chaya Mirel's parents, Sara and Nick Block.
Mazzal Tov!

21:
Seventy years of age for grey hairs. It is very difficult to know from where the author of our mishnah derived this attribution – even though it is reasonably natural. One suggestion which originates with Rabbi Ovadya of Bertinoro is a combination of two biblical sources, both concerning King David. The first [1 Chronicles 29:29] reads:

So, when he died King David had grey hairs. According to tradition he was seventy years old when he died, having reigned a total of 40 years.

22:
Eighty years of age for might. This one is simple. In a psalm attributed to Moshe Rabbenu which is concerned with the frailty and uncertainty of human life we learn:

So, man should expect to die by the age of 70; but if he (or she) has might – strength, vigour – they might last until the age of eighty. It follows, according to our mishnah, that someone who reaches the age of eighty has reached years of might, strength and vigour.

23:
Ninety years of age for a bowed back. Many have tried to link this attribution with some biblical source: none of them have come up with anything remotely resembling reason. Furthermore, the attribution itself – like some of the others that have preceded it – is not so certain. I have know many nonagenarians and they have all been straight-backed and quite spritely. And this is not just the case in modern times. Let us not forget that Rabbi Akiva was well into his nineties when he was incarcerated, tortured and executed by the Romans – and he had lost none of his mental and physical alacrity.

In Avot 350 I wrote rather disparagingly about the attempts of Rabbi Ovadya of Bertinoro to explain the attribution that at the age of sixty one is old.

Michael Lewyn writes:

An alternative justification: 1800 years ago, most people were either old or dead by the age of sixty; given the shortness of lifespans and the physical difficulty of agriculture by hand, I suspect people who survived to that age were as worn out as 80 or 90-year old Americans today.

I respond:

Yes, it is true that we seem to be living longer lives – and the life span of the next generations may be expected to extend even further. But I do not think that Michael is justified in assuming that sexagenarians, septuagenarians and octogenarians were as rare as he suggests. While it is true that in previous epochs a short life was probable we now of many figures that reached extreme old age.

I hope that Michael is not falling into the fallacy of assuming that in Mishnaic times everybody lived off the land. The vast majority of people lived in cities and towns and engaged in urban activities.