There are many statements which are aimed at respecting elders. Here are a choice few that teach this dramatically:
1. The Hebrew word for elderly is 'zaken' which is an acronym for 'zeh sh'kaneh chochma' -- a person who has acquired wisdom.
2. In Midrash Yalkut Shimoni it states: "When the Torah was given at Mt. Sinai, God appeared to the Jewish people as a "kindly, white bearded patriarch, full of mercy."
3. "Rabbi Yossi bar Yehuda of K'far HaBavli said, ‘One who learns from the young, to what is he compared? To one who eats unripe grapes and drinks wine from the press. And one who learns from the old, to what is he compared? To one who eats ripened grapes and drinks aged wine’." - Pirkay Avot
4. Of Avraham, our father, the Torah tells that he was “Ba bayamim (Genesis 24:1),” advanced in his years – but still growing (ba literally means coming, denoting forward movement).
1. The Hebrew word for elderly is 'zaken' which is an acronym for 'zeh sh'kaneh chochma' -- a person who has acquired wisdom.
2. In Midrash Yalkut Shimoni it states: "When the Torah was given at Mt. Sinai, God appeared to the Jewish people as a "kindly, white bearded patriarch, full of mercy."
3. "Rabbi Yossi bar Yehuda of K'far HaBavli said, ‘One who learns from the young, to what is he compared? To one who eats unripe grapes and drinks wine from the press. And one who learns from the old, to what is he compared? To one who eats ripened grapes and drinks aged wine’." - Pirkay Avot
4. Of Avraham, our father, the Torah tells that he was “Ba bayamim (Genesis 24:1),” advanced in his years – but still growing (ba literally means coming, denoting forward movement).
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