A long life was considered a blessing; the disabilities, pains, and problems of old age were ignored. That was equally true of later literature in which disabilities were rarely discussed. After the age of forty, however, remedies for ailments might no longer be effective(San. 151b). Old age and illness are occasionally identified." The elderly in a traditional Jewish context are seen as healthy, active, mentally and physically alert, and functioning in their chosen field of work. The latter should not strike us as strange, since retirement is a recent innovation, always an option for the wealthy but not for the vast majority, who worked until it was no longer physically or mentally possible.
In Mo’ed Katan, when death is discussed, we have some speculation about the significance of an early and a late death:
If one dies[under] fifty year[old]—that is death by karet, at fifty-two years—that is the death of Samuel of Ramah; at sixty—that is by the hand of Heaven. (Said Mar Zutra: What is the text[for this]? You shall come to your grave in ripe age, as the [numerical value of the] word for“in ripe age” yields sixty.) At seventy, it is the death of the hoary head; at eighty it is the death of a vigorous[old man], for it is written, The days of our years are three score and ten, or even by reason of strength four score years. Said Rabbah, From fifty to sixty years[of age], that is death by karet, and the reason why this has not been mentioned was out of deference for[the prophet] Samuel of Ramah. R. Joseph, on his attaining the age of sixty, made a festival day for the Rabbis [of the Academy] saying,“I have just
15