I am very excited for the opportunity to share words of Torah with you. Each week, in this spot, I look to share an idea I've found that speaks to me and that I think will resonate with you as well. This week, I share an excerpt from an article by Rabbi Stephen Baars entitled 'Life or Existence?', which speaks about what it means to truly live life.
In this week's Torah portion, Pharaoh meets Joseph's father, Jacob, and asks:
"How many are the days of your life?" (Genesis 47:8) Jacob tells him:
"...130 years..." (Genesis 47:9) Maybe you don't find Pharaoh's question strange, but consider this: As far as Pharaoh was concerned, Joseph was the wisest man in the world (Genesis 41:39). If you were going to meet the wisest man in the world's father, would you ask him how old he was? […]
Pharaoh asked Jacob how old he was because Jacob didn't look the part. Of course Pharaoh had his meaningful questions prepared, but when he saw Jacob enter with such life, such vitality, he couldn't help himself but ask the question.
Pharaoh is not really interested in Jacob's linear age. Rather, upon seeing Jacob, Pharaoh wonders: Where is the shell of a man that one of your great age typically becomes? Pharaoh can see that Jacob is old, yet he bears none of the marks of a life of mere existence. Instead, Jacob exudes the appearance of a life that was fully lived. So Pharaoh asks: "How many days have you actually experienced living," as opposed to merely existing.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch astutely explains:
"When one counts by years, one does not reckon any more the days. It is only with a few select people that each day is full of importance and is considered by them as having a special meaning. A really true human being does not live years but days."
"Similarly in the great psalm of Moses, in which the whole history of the world passes by as in a dream, it says at the end: 'If even a thousand years of world history mean no more than one minute, then a day means nothing.... Teach us to count our days!'"
"Thus Pharaoh, too, says here: 'How many are the days of your life?' In these words, he reveals the deep impression which the whole appearance and dignified behavior of Jacob made on him."
[…] To experience a meaningful life, it must be filled with meaningful days. A great vacation now and again just won't cut it. Smiling for the camera and laughing at the right jokes doesn't make for a life. Don't wait till it's obvious; do something meaningful today.
Have a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Davies
Rabbi@SOICherryHill.org