Chayei Sarah (1): Going Grey and Golden Years

ואברהם זקן בא בימים

And Avraham was old, full of days.

The question on the wording of Passuk is obvious: What meaning is added with the phrase, "full of days"? Is it not enough to simply write that Avraham was old?

Says the R' Eliezer Horovitz of Tarnigrad in his classic Noam Megadim clarifies an important point about aging. "Going grey" is often associated with stress. Wrinkles above the brow are a symptom of worrying too much. Simply, people 'grow old' from stress. Stress is the friction of life. And just as enough friction can wear down a mighty boulder into a small stone, so too enough stress ruins our posture, sags our shoulders and saps the zest out of life.

But there is another way to age. The feeling of kicking off your shoes and sitting down on the couch at the end of a long, hard day. Sure, you're wiped and there's not a drop left in the tank, but you don't feel bad about because all that effort was well expended.  Hard work and accomplishment puts our aging onto a much more sagely backdrop.

This the meaning of Passuk. Avraham grew old. Why? He was full of days, or in other words, his days were full. He had a life filled with so much hard work, he so profoundly developed himself, he overcame so many tests and adversities that he simply achieved truly Golden Years.

We expend so much energy letting ourselves be torn apart by our experiences. We allow for many chips on the shoulder. We drive ourselves crazy chasing fads, fashions and cheap experiences that drain us of satisfaction. Hashem should help us and bless us that we invest our life-force in the right things, in the endeavors that will fill our lives with depth and meaning.