Aging in Light of Avraham Avinu

 I had a conversation with my mother this past week that left me with an unexpected insight into this week's parsha. Avraham, in Parshat Vayeira, is lauded for his zeal in performing mitzvot. A man of 99 years old, who had just been circumcised, he runs to greet his guests, runs to tell his wife to make delicacies, speeding along in a way that would put the roadrunner to shame. 

Avraham's qualities are seen as unique to him, something special that he possessed, the attribute of a righteous man. Yet, it would seem that at the same time, the only reason that Avraham possessed these qualities was that he cultivated them day in and day out. 

And this brings me to the topic of aging. My mother told me that she's unique in the following respect: her friends, with whom she speaks, all say that they want to relive their lives, return to the times of their youth. Have the vigor, the energy, the vitality. She said, "Not me. I've gained a lot of wisdom, and life experience, and that's not something I want to give up." 

Same too with Avraham. When Messilat Yesharim describes the qualities of the righteous, it is important, in my humble opinion, to add that these were qualities cultivated, finetuned and developed through huge effort. And perhaps that adds new meaning to the term, "ben zekunim," as in Yosef was Yaakov's "ben zekunim," i.e. not that he received preferential treatment because he was young, but rather, he was the one who sat on Yaakov's knees, just like Yosef's sons would sit on their grandfather's knees. Yosef was the one to whom Yaakov could impart all his wealth of experience, forging a special, inimitable bond.