MOVE IT! – Parshat Vayelech

Each Moment Counts

There has been much talk professionally in the past 15-20 years about preparing for retirement. It had previously been assumed that people after retirement would spend their last years lounging and living the 'easy life'. It became clear though that though people had prepared financially for their retirement, they hadn’t prepared what they would do with their time. It was discovered that amongst recent retirees there was increased risk for cardiovascular disease.1 Was there a connection between the two? There have been studies showing that those engaged in volunteering have a lower incidence of heart and blood diseases among middle- to older-aged people.

I am not pushing volunteering per se or any particular activity nor am I sure that grandparenting is considered volunteering. But it is becoming clearer that preparing for retirement, by preparing for how to spend the time, has shown good results. Erik Erikson, pioneer of personality and identity development throughout life wrote also about the importance of finding meaningful activity to engage in during retirement.2

This concept could even be based on the very first words of this week's parsha, Parshat Vayelech. Moshe was nearing the end of his days. (Rashi tells us that this was actually his last day.) Until this moment, when he had a message for the people, the Torah rarely tells us that "he went," rather saying simply that he gave them a message. And in the rare moment that the Torah does mention that Moshe went, Chazal always search for a reason that these words are mentioned. The Torah after all is usually stingy with words so why even tell us "he went". What does it add?

Rabbi Kamenetzky offers a fascinating explanation. "The Torah is teaching us the greatness of our leaders. They are always moving. They are exerting the most excruciating efforts in going forward. They are about to tell us that it is all over. But until that moment they are still going forward. There is no sputtering towards the end."4

Every minute counts. Every second we have is precious. Every moment has its own special meaning.5 It is not to be squandered. The concept of wasting time  almost doesn’t exist for these leaders - or in fact for any leaders. (This is not to be confused with relaxation time or down time which can be necessary time off.) Just take a look at the daily schedule for some of these people. There is so much they wish to accomplish – they make time for their priorities. They are 'on the go'.

Incredible role models for us – not only for during our retirement but throughout our lives. How do we spend our leisure time? Is it utilized well? Time is an incredible resource – is it invested well? We need to answer that for ourselves. And if we are not happy with the answer we can choose to change

We, too, can move it.

 Click here for another logoParsha article on Vayeilech

Notes

  1. Moon, et al. (2012) Transition to retirement and risk of cardiovascular disease; and Olesen, et al. (2013) Does retirement reduce the risk of myocardial infarction? 2 of many papers representative of research showing an increase in heart disease after retirement.
  2. In fact, Erikson wrote an entire book called Vital Involvement During Old Age
  3. Devarim 31:1
  4. Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetsky's article can be read here
  5. 'Meaning of the moment' is an oft-mentioned concept in the works of Viktor Frankl

Have A Great Shabbat!laughing

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