Talmud for a Life Well Lived: Sharing Your Wisdom

"We grow up twice...first from childhood to adulthood and then from adulthood to elderhood. As we age, we are faced with a choice: Get old or GROW old."
Who Do You Want to be When you Grow Old? The Path of Purposeful Aging

משנה אבות ה׳:כ״א

(כא) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, בֶּן חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים לַמִּקְרָא, בֶּן עֶשֶׂר לַמִּשְׁנָה, בֶּן שְׁלשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה לַמִּצְוֹת, בֶּן חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה לַתַּלְמוּד, בֶּן שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה לַחֻפָּה, בֶּן עֶשְׂרִים לִרְדֹּף, בֶּן שְׁלשִׁים לַכֹּחַ, בֶּן אַרְבָּעִים לַבִּינָה, בֶּן חֲמִשִּׁים לָעֵצָה, בֶּן שִׁשִּׁים לַזִּקְנָה, בֶּן שִׁבְעִים לַשֵּׂיבָה, בֶּן שְׁמֹנִים לַגְּבוּרָה, בֶּן תִּשְׁעִים לָשׁוּחַ, בֶּן מֵאָה כְּאִלּוּ מֵת וְעָבַר וּבָטֵל מִן הָעוֹלָם:

Pirkei Avot 5:21

(21) He used to say: At five years of age the study of Scripture; At ten the study of Mishnah; At thirteen subject to the commandments; At fifteen the study of Talmud; At eighteen the bridal canopy; At twenty for pursuit [of livelihood]; At thirty you reach the age of power; At forty wisdom; At fifty able to give counsel; At sixty old age; At seventy fullness of years; At eighty the age of strength; At ninety a bent body; At one hundred, as good as dead and gone completely out of the world.

How Do You Define Wisdom?
Self-insight; the ability to demonstrate personal growth
self-awareness in terms of your historical era and your family history
understanding that priorities and values, including your own, are not absolute
an awareness of life’s ambiguities
a reduction in one’s self-centeredness, subjectivity, and projections, and an increase in one’s insight into the true nature of things, including the motivations of one’s own and other people’s behavior.
the ability to maintain well-being and kindness in the face of challenges

Two Kinds of Intelligence:
Fluid Intelligence: The ability to reason, think reflexively, and solve novel problems.
Crystallized Intelligence: The ability to understand patterns and how to synthesize accumulated knowledge.
From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life
Narrated by Arthur C. Brooks

בראשית מ״ח:א׳

(א) וַיְהִ֗י אַחֲרֵי֙ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לְיוֹסֵ֔ף הִנֵּ֥ה אָבִ֖יךָ חֹלֶ֑ה וַיִּקַּ֞ח אֶת־שְׁנֵ֤י בָנָיו֙ עִמּ֔וֹ אֶת־מְנַשֶּׁ֖ה וְאֶת־אֶפְרָֽיִם׃

Genesis 48:1

(1) Some time afterward, Joseph was told, “Behold Your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Midrash Rabbah, Toldot 65
“Master of the Universe, if a person should die without first being ill, he will not be able to resolve his affairs among his children and the members of his family. But if he is sick for a period of days, it would give the time needed to make arrangements.” The Holy One responded: “By your life, you have demanded a good thing and it will begin with you.”

The Second Curve: Moving Towards a Life of Torah

תורה

מורה

Torah/Instruction

Moreh/Teacher

בראשית ט״ז:ה׳

(ה) וַתֹּ֨אמֶר שָׂרַ֣י אֶל־אַבְרָם֮ חֲמָסִ֣י עָלֶ֒יךָ֒ אָנֹכִ֗י נָתַ֤תִּי שִׁפְחָתִי֙ בְּחֵיקֶ֔ךָ וַתֵּ֙רֶא֙ כִּ֣י הָרָ֔תָה

Genesis 16:5

(5) And Sarai said to Abram, “The wrong done me is your fault! I myself put my maid in your bosom; And now she is impregnated..

מנחות כ״ט ב:ג׳-ד׳

אמר רב יהודה אמר רב בשעה שעלה משה למרום מצאו להקב"ה שיושב וקושר כתרים לאותיות אמר לפניו רבש"ע מי מעכב על ידך אמר לו אדם אחד יש שעתיד להיות בסוף כמה דורות ועקיבא בן יוסף שמו שעתיד לדרוש על כל קוץ וקוץ תילין תילין של הלכות אמר לפניו רבש"ע הראהו לי אמר לו חזור לאחורך הלך וישב בסוף שמונה שורות ולא היה יודע מה הן אומרים תשש כחו כיון שהגיע לדבר אחד אמרו לו תלמידיו רבי מנין לך אמר להן הלכה למשה מסיני נתיישבה דעתו

Menachot 29b:3-4

§ Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: When Moses ascended on High, he found the Holy One, Blessed be He, sitting and tying crowns on the letters of the Torah. Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, who is preventing You from giving the Torah without these additions? God said to him: There is a man who is destined to be born after several generations, and Akiva ben Yosef is his name; he is destined to derive from each and every thorn of these crowns mounds upon mounds of halakhot. It is for his sake that the crowns must be added to the letters of the Torah. Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, show him to me. God said to him: Return behind you. Moses went and sat at the end of the eighth row in Rabbi Akiva’s study hall and did not understand what they were saying. Moses’ strength waned, as he thought his Torah knowledge was deficient. When Rabbi Akiva arrived at the discussion of one matter, his students said to him: My teacher, from where do you derive this? Rabbi Akiva said to them: It is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai. When Moses heard this, his mind was put at ease, as this too was part of the Torah that he was to receive.