Mishugas Is Back!
By Linda Kaufman
April 22, 2021
NEVER TOO OLD
I am delighted to resume my Jewish musings on topics of interest, hopefully to my readers as well as myself. Though my writing has not appeared in the Jewish Journal since 2015, I have been writing musicals that have been produced around the country.
But even more significant is that since we last published this column, I have passed my 83rd birthday, a major milestone for certain.
So, what is Jewish about this, you might ask? For one, I am just one of many Jewish contemporaries who pursue active lives though they could have used their advanced age to activate that sometimes unnerving word – retirement.
Certainly, we never read about Moses or King David retiring or, for that matter, Maimonides or Albert Einstein. We Jews are mostly a hardy lot who enjoy having a meaningful work life.
Undoubtedly I am only one of many Jewish oldsters who is now at the top of her game. How about Alan Arkin, 87, and Michael Douglas, 76, in The Kominsky Method, the hilarious sitcom about two aging guys trying to stay afloat in their “later” years? This award-winning show was created by another “senior” – Chaim Michael Levine, otherwise known as Chuck Lorre, undoubtedly the “king of sitcoms.” Lorre will be 69 this year.
And there is more good news. The WHO just released research that changes the numbers regarding age. From 18-65 is now YOUTH. From 66-79 is MIDDLE-AGED. From 80-99 is SENIOR. !00+ is LONG-LIVED ELDERLY. So all you 75-year-old Middle-Aged folks need to relax. You’re not even seniors yet!
Though I am a senior, I am also an Ashkenazi Jew, another great marker for living a “longer than most” life. We have certain genes linked to “super-aging” reports Dr. Nir Barzilai, an Israeli-born doctor who has 750 Ashkenazi centenarians and 2,000 of their offspring enrolled in a longevity study. About 60 percent of them have a mutation that allows for better cellular repair and, thus, slows aging. But they are also involved in meaningful work and have great social connections.
Another clue to longevity is,“ If you look younger, you’ll live longer.” (Does that work if I sign up for Botox?)
So, my readers, unless you are 120, the age at which human life is capped, you need to reve up your dreams, projects and bucket lists and live your life under the heading: Never Too Old.