He Used To Say: "At Five Years Of Age, [One Should Approach] The Study Of Scripture; At Ten The Study Of Mishnah; At Thirteen The Mitzvos, At Fifteen The Study Of Gemara, At Eighteen Marriage; At Twenty Pursuit [Of A Livelihood]; At Thirty [One Attains] Full Strength; At Forty Understanding; At Fifty [The Potential To Give] Counsel; At Sixty Old Age; At Seventy Ripe Old Age; At Eighty [Special] Strength; At Ninety [The Body] Is Stooped; At One Hundred It Is As If One Were Dead And Had Departed And Ceased Connection With The World."

At Twenty... At Thirty

The Kabbalah explains that G-d brought all existence into being through the ten Sefiros (as reflected in the fact that there are ten utterances of creation). As such, each decade of a person's existence represents the blossoming of a new attribute and the attainment of another spiritual rung.

(Likkutei Sichos, Vol. II, p. 593)

At Ninety [The Body] Is Stooped

This is also a positive quality, referring to humility. The attainment of all the virtues mentioned previously should not lead one to pride. Instead, these positive qualities should encourage humility.

(Sichos Shabbos Parshas Nitzavim, 5737; Sichos Shabbos Parshas Eikev, 5740)

At One Hundred It Is As If One Were Dead

This represents a crowning stage in personal development. On the verse[83] "no man shall see Me and live," our Sages commented:[84] "While alive one does not see, but when dead one sees." At one hundred, a person can reach a level such that "it is as if he were dead," i.e., he can attain that degree of perception of G-dliness.

Similarly, the expression "had departed and ceased connection with the world" also has a positive connotation. It means the person has risen above all worldly matters.[85] His focus and concern are solely spiritual.

(Ibid.)

   

Notes:

83. (Back to text) Shmos 33:20.

84. (Back to text) Sifri, commenting on Bamidbar 12:8.

85. (Back to text) Or HaTorah, Chukas, p. 817.