Living Torah Archives

On the occasion of his eightieth birthday, the Rebbe gives spirited advice to those approaching the age of retirement: Since “man was created to toil,” if G–d gives us another year in this world, it is proof positive that we still have something to accomplish.

Dr. Louis Teichholz is a leading cardiologist. In 1977, he was a Head of Cardiology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. When, on the holiday of Shmini Atezers in 1977, the Rebbe suffered a massive heart attack, he was asked to join a team of doctors treating the Rebbe at 770. It was there that he merited to converse with the Rebbe about many fascinating topics.

During a gathering in 1980 marking the passing of his father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, the Rebbe announced that it was high time that seniors start using their time more productively. He went on to establish a network of institutions to help them do just that. It was called Kolel Tiferes Zkeinim, Levi Yitzchak.

At an age when most people retire, the Rebbe initiated an unprecedented expansion of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, and called for seventy new institutions to open their doors. Here the Rebbe shares his thoughts on putting one’s golden years to use.

“I don’t believe in retirement…strength comes from G-d Almighty." (Collage)

On the occasion of his eightieth birthday, the Rebbe gives spirited advice to those approaching the age of retirement.

I have been asked: “Now that you’ve reached 70 years isn’t it time to slow down and enjoy some rest? The number of one’s years is irrelevant; the real question is: were those years utilized to the fullest? Every honest person knows he could have accomplished more in his youth, so now is the time to work with greater strength to double one’s achievements.

The United States prides itself on its work ethic. Yet, somehow, it has cultivated the idea that one’s useful work life is over by age fifty or sixty. When one is no longer as strong and energetic, one is given the right to decrease in the activities relevant to his mission in life. The Torah instructs us that as long as we are alive, our mission is alive and we must do no less than previously.