Whole years and life's appointed purpose

במדרש יודע ה' ימי תמימים.

In the Midrash: "Hashem knows the days of the wholehearted ones" (Tehillim 37:18).

The Midrash applies this verse to the perfectly righteous, whose days are fully "known" and counted before Hashem because every one of them was lived in completeness.

הם תמימים שנותיהם תמימים.

They are wholehearted, whose years are whole.

The "temimim" are those whose very years are whole and unblemished — not a day was wasted or fell short of fulfilling its purpose.

דאין לך אדם שאין לו שעה וכן בנפש נמצא איזה נקודה שזה הי' רצון הבורא ית' ועל אותה שעה אמרו חז"ל יפה שעה אחת בעולם הזה מכל חיי העולם הבא שהוא השלמת הרצון שהי' להבורא ית' מן האדם.

For there is no person who does not have his hour, and likewise within the soul there is found some point that was the will of the Creator, may He be blessed; and concerning that hour the Sages said, "One hour in this world is finer than all the life of the World to Come," for it is the fulfillment of the will the Creator had from this person.

Every individual has a unique moment and an inner nekudah (point) in his soul that is precisely what Hashem desired from him; when a person realizes that purpose, that single hour of doing Hashem's will in this world outweighs all the reward of the Next World, because it completes the very ratzon Hashem had in creating him.

ולכן המצוה לכבד השיבה שקרוב להסתלק מן העולם ובודאי נגמר המבוקש ויש לו התדבקות בצד מה בשורש העליון.

Therefore there is a mitzvah to honor old age, for one near to departing the world has surely completed what was sought of him, and he has, in some measure, a cleaving to the supernal root.

We are commanded to honor the elderly because someone close to the end of life has presumably accomplished his life's purpose and has thereby attained a degree of deveikus (attachment) to his Source on high.

ולכן ת"ח מצוה לעולם לכבדו כמ"ש זקן זה שקנה חכמה.

And therefore it is always a mitzvah to honor a talmid chacham (Torah scholar), as it is stated, "an elder (zaken) — this is one who has acquired wisdom."

A Torah scholar deserves honor at any age because Chazal read "zaken" as "zeh shekanah chochmah," one who has acquired wisdom — he has already reached the elevated state that old age represents.

והיכן יש רמז לחכמה בתיבת זקן.

And where is there an allusion to wisdom in the word "zaken"?

The Sefas Emes asks how the word "zaken" itself hints at chochmah (wisdom), beyond the Sages' reading.

רק זה שמלא קנו ושרשו זה הוא החכמה כמ"ש איזהו חכם המכיר את מקומו.

Rather, this — that he has filled his "nest" and his root — that is the wisdom, as it is stated, "Who is wise? One who recognizes his place."

Reading "zaken" as related to "ken" (nest), the wise elder is one who has fully filled his appointed place and root in the world; true chochmah, per Chazal, is knowing one's place and fulfilling exactly the purpose set for him.

וזהו הת"ח מתדבק בשורשו וזהו בחי' זקנה המשכה מעולם העליון.

And this is the talmid chacham, who cleaves to his root; and this is the aspect of old age — a drawing-down from the upper world.

The Torah scholar cleaves to his spiritual source, and this cleaving is the inner meaning of "old age": a channel drawing influence down from the higher world.

ובכל אדם בן שבעים לשיבה שאז יש לו התדבקות בשרש שלמעלה.

And in every person, "at seventy one comes to old age" (Avos 5:21), for then he has a cleaving to the root above.

By the natural age of seventy, any person attains a measure of attachment to his supernal root, which is why advanced age is to be honored.

אבל האבות שנקראו תמימים בנפשותיהם בתיקון הרמ"ח איברים ונעשו מרכבה לשכינה ולא נתפרדו מדביקות עליון כלל לכן שנותיהם תמימים.

But the Avos, who were called "wholehearted" in their souls through the perfecting of the 248 limbs, and who became a chariot for the Shechinah and were never separated from supernal deveikus at all — therefore their years were whole.

The Avos achieved completeness in every one of the 248 limbs, becoming a merkavah (chariot) for the Divine Presence; because they never broke their cleaving to Hashem for even a moment, every one of their years was perfectly whole.

ובודאי א"א לאנשים כמונו להבין מדריגה כזו שהיא למעלה מהטבע ונק' זקנים מתחילתן ועד סופן כמ"ש רש"י שני חיי שרה כולן שוין לטובה:

And certainly it is impossible for people like us to comprehend such a level, which is above nature; and they were called "elders" from their beginning to their end, as Rashi states on "the years of the life of Sarah" — "all of them equally good."

Such a constant, unbroken deveikus is beyond our grasp, for it transcends nature itself; the Avos and Sarah were "elders" — fully attached to their root — from start to finish, which is why Rashi says all of Sarah's years were equally good and whole.

Summary: Every person is given a unique hour and an inner point of purpose for which Hashem created him, and the "hour" of fulfilling that ratzon outweighs all the World to Come. Honoring the aged and the talmid chacham reflects their cleaving to their supernal root — the true meaning of "zaken," one who has filled his appointed place. The Avos and Sarah, however, attained a level above nature: never once separated from deveikus, they became a chariot for the Shechinah, and so all their years were perfectly whole.