I haven’t posted for quite some time and it
doesn’t seem like anybody missed me.
Several major things have happened since I
last wrote but I will focus on two of them:
· The Jewish nation
completed the Daf Yomi cycle and celebrated numerous Siyumei Hashas all over
the world.
· Kirk Douglas (born
Isser Danielovich) was summoned to the Beis Din Shel Maala at the ripe young
age of 103.
Is there any connection between the two events?
One thing is [almost] certain – Kirk Douglas/Danielovich
wasn’t learning Daf Yomi. But he could have been.
Actually, all that I want to do now is to
reprint part of a post I wrote more than 10 years ago in July 2009. The post is titled:
That post was written on the occasion of my
father’s (LOY”T) 80th birthday. I wrote about how he spent the years
that most of us are in Yeshiva in concentration camps and DP camps. He missed
the time that most of us master the skills of independent learning and so, most
of his learning over the next 60 years was from going to local shiurim. But
sometime over the past two decades, he decided to get a bit more aggressive and
so, shortly before his 80th birthday, he made his first siyum mishnayos.
Last July he reached his 90th
birthday and things have only gotten better.
Ever since I wrote that post in July 2009, my
father, LOY”T, has been catching up on the learning that he missed in his
younger years. Firstly, he has been attending Daf Yomi as regularly as he can over
the past decade. I don’t think he always makes up the times he misses but he is
always right back in there. He attended one of the out of town Siyumei HaShas
last month and was honored to recite the Kel Malei Rachamim for the Kedoshim of
the Holocaust.
Secondly, he has been attending the Agudas Yisrael
Yarchei Kallah in Yerushalayim over the last four or so years. He is definitely
one of the most senior, if not the most senior person in attendance.
I have been his chavrusah for these events and it is quite a thrill.
Thirdly, as his grandchildren come of age,
there is a steady demand for him to set time to learn with them. He now has a
weekly seder kavuah with one grandson in his hometown in the US, and when he
comes here to Eretz Yisrael, they all need to make appointments.
This is the ameilus b’Torah that is the
source of all of our success.
But the world doesn’t look at this as a life
of success. It looks at the life of Kirk (Isser Danielovich) Douglas as a life
of success.
It’s all in the eye of the beholder.
There is an important lesson to be
learned here. It is the exact same lesson that I was preaching ten years ago,
except that then, I chose a different Halachically Jewish intermarried celebrity
to pick on. It was George (Nathan Birnbaum) Burns. He only lived to be 100.
The message is the same and it bears
repeating. So I will reprint the second half of the post exactly as it was
written then in reference to George Burns. על אחת כמה וכמה to Kirk Douglas who lived even three years
longer!
This is what I wrote:
But the disquieting thought ran much further:
Imagine how many Jewish people there are - non-observant ones for sure, but even many "Orthodox" Jews who keep mitzvos - who live peaceful productive lives 80 years and beyond and finally, at the end of their time, go upstairs with absolutely nothing!
Absolutely nothing!
What a waste. What an awful shame!
This thought did not occur to me just last Shabbos. It occurred to me almost 14 years ago when I submitted an essay on the subject to the Jewish Observer for publication (they rejected it!).
The essay was a critique of a brief news item that appeared in my local newspaper. It was about the famous borsht belt comedian, George Burns. George Burns was born Nathan Birnbaum in New York in January of 1896. His father was the chazzan in a shul. He married Gracie Allen, an Irish catholic in 1926 and he died in March of 1996 at the age of 100 and 2 months. Although he dropped out of school in 4th grade, nobody will dispute that he was one sharp quick-witted fellow.
The news item appeared in late 1995 and it informed the reader of an upcoming celebration that was being planned for George Burns in January when he will reach his 100th birthday. The article said that George, just shy of 100, is still very active and goes to his office on a daily basis and never misses playing cards with his friends. His mind is still as sharp as ever.
When I saw that news item my mind went berzerk! Here's a Jewish fellow from a religious home that G-d granted a sharp and gifted mind that he was able to maintain for 100 years - that's 100 years without a wheelchair! - and this gifted Jewish fellow spends a few hours a day playing cards!
And what is he going to bring with him when he finally gets upstairs (he did, within four months)?
Nothing! Absolutely nothing! 100 years of a brilliant mind and he has absolutely nothing!
Can you imagine? G-d (the real One) says to him: "Nathan, I gave you 100 years on your feet and what did you bring Me? A deck of cards?"
It isn't funny, George (er, I mean, Nate).
What a waste! I wrote as much in my essay. I don't remember the way I wrote it but I remember this line:
If that man would have done nothing more than devote one hour per day to hear a daf yomi shiur from the day he was 70 years old... by now, he would have finished all of shas 4 times!!!(Note - I am about half way to 100 and I still haven't finished shas once but I am closing in on it!)
Finish shas 4 times! For one hour per day. From age 70!! (His non-Jewish wife died when he was 68.) And he went up there with nothing!
I recall that I ended this essay with an old Jewish joke from one of those Jewish Folklore books:
2 women approached the local Rav to complain about their husbands. One's husband was a miser to the extreme and wouldn't relinquish a penny to someone less fortunate and his wife couldn't deal with it. The other was a compulsive philanthropist and would give his money to the needy to the point of self-depravation and his wife could barely meet the household budget.
The Rav told each woman to send their respective husbands to him for a consultation.
Both husbands arrived at the Rav at the same time. The Rav asked the first woman's husband, "Is it true that you do not give any money to the needy?" The man admitted so and the Rav asked him to explain.
"Well, I know that some people live well into their 80s and 90s and they cannot work and have no source of livelihood. I am afraid that if I give my spare money to others and don't store it away, there will be nothing left to keep me afloat in my golden years."
The Rav then asked the second woman's husband, "Is it true that you squander your money to charity?" The man admitted so and the Rav asked him to explain.
"Well, I know that life is very short. We are here one moment and gone the next. If I die tomorrow, what good would be to me a treasure of money? I want to see to it that my money is being put to good use immediately. I cannot worry about a tomorrow that may never come. If G-d gives me life, He will give me food."
The Rav looked at the two men and made a summation: "So it appears that husband #1 hordes all his money because he is afraid that he may live a very long time. Husband #2 disperses his money because he is afraid that he may not live another day."
"May G-d preserve each of you from what he fears the most!"
Carl Reiner (97) and Mel Brooks (94) created the Two Thousand Year-Old Man. Who knows? They just may reach 2000 years themselves. Will they still be kibbitzing around or will they "Get Smart"? (I believe both of them produced children from Jewish women so there is some hope.)
And maybe even younger folk like Bernie Sanders (79) should listen up!
אשרנו מה טוב
חלקנו – ששמת חלקנו מיושבי בית המדרש ולא שמת חלקנו מיושבי קרנות
Update - An alert reader informed me that sometime in his eighties, Mr. Kirk Douglas did indeed reconnect to his Yiddishkeit and engaged an Orthodox Rabbi for some Torah study. B"H, he does not come upstairs totally empty-handed. (Mechila!)
It brings to mind the famous fable from Chovos HaLevavos about one who was given an hour to take all he wanted from the King's treasure house but only took a few small gems as he was being ushered out.
The point of this post is to point out that some people even get two hours, relatively speaking, and have nothing more to show for it.
Chaval.
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