The rabbinic period adds a bit to our discussion of a definition of old age. We have some discussions of the blessings of age, but along midrashic lines. This is done playfully, without too much serious thought. Although there are potential legal implications owing to the disabilities of aging in the Temple ritual, the court system, and family law, they are largely ignored. We do not find the precise, well-debated limits in the area of aging found so often elsewhere.
The elderly are to be given respect, but much more is made of the honor due teachers and parents. We have a general picture of familial stability in which the older generation continues to function as part of the family and community.
LATER HALAKHIC LITERATURE
The broad pattern the Talmud sets is followed by the later legal literature. The elderly are never discussed as a class in the responsa or in the numerous codes. Honor due parents is defined, and economic as well as various kinds of psychological support are enumerated. The specific decisions reflect the economic and social circumstances of the communities in each age and society, but no significant change takes place.
Maimonides and others who followed understood that a system that encourages respect and reverence for parents as well as elders assures communal stability and the authority of the Hala khah . Throughout the medieval period the zaken mamre is considered a nuisance, and sometimes a danger, to the Jewish community. This is probably due both to external pressures and to internal rivalries; the zaken mamre is discussed more frequently than any
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