613 Mitzvot
Positive Mitzvah 209
Honoring the Elderly

Vayikra/Leviticus 19:32
Mipney seyvah takum vehadarta peney zaken veyareta me’Eloheycha ani YHVH.
You shall rise up before the gray-haired, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your Elohim. I am YHVH.

Standing up before someone is showing them respect.

The Rabbis taught: I might think, even before an aged sinner; but the Torah uses the word zaken ("old man"), which refers to a sage... to one who has acquired wisdom...
But Issi ben Yehudah said: "You shall rise before the white-haired" implies any hoary head.
Said Rabbi Yochanan: The law follows Issi ben Yehudah. Rabbi Yochanan used to rise before the heathen aged, saying: "How many experiences have passed over these!" (Talmud, Kiddushin 32b-33a)

The Talmud shows that the white-haired (seyvah) refers to all elderly people, while an old man (zaken) refers to the elderly in the position of authority, because of his wisdom gained through years of Torah learning and life experiences.

Iyov/Job 32:2-7
Then the wrath of Elihu the son of Barakh’el, the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was kindled against Iyov [Job]. His wrath was kindled because he justified himself rather than Elohim. Also his wrath was kindled against his three friends, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Iyov. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Iyov, because they were elder than he. When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was kindled. Elihu the son of Barakh’el the Buzite answered, "I am young, and you are very old; Therefore I held back, and didn’t dare show you my opinion. I said, ‘Days should speak, And multitude of years should teach wisdom."

Elihu showed respect to his elders by letting them speak first. Even though their counsel for Iyov [Job] was not at all helpful, he still waited until all of them had spoken. He thought that because of their greater number of years, they would have greater wisdom than him.

Melachim A(1 Kings) 12:1-8
Rechav ‘am went to Shekhem: for all Yisra’el were come to Shekhem to make him king. It happened, when Yarov ‘am the son of Nevat heard of it (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Shlomo, and Yarov ‘am lived in Egypt, and they sent and called him), that Yarov ‘am and all the assembly of Yisra’el came, and spoke to Rechav ‘am, saying, Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you. He said to them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. The people departed. King Rechav ‘am took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Shlomo his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give you me to return answer to this people? They spoke to him, saying, If you will be a servant to this people this day, and will serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever. But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

The counsel that his young friends gave him was to make their yoke more difficult, and the result was the splitting of the Kingdom. Had he but listened to the counsel of his elders, the Kingdom would have been spared and not divided.

Yeshayhu(Isaiah) 3:5
The people will be oppressed, Everyone by another, And everyone by his neighbor. The child will behave himself proudly against the old man, And the base against the honorable.

We definitely see this in our own days. In our days, youth is much more desired.

The younger generation insists on 'learning from their own mistakes' rather than building upon the life experience of their elders. The aged are made to feel that they are useless if not a burden, and had best confine themselves to retirement villages and nursing homes. After decades of achievement, their knowledge and talent are suddenly worthless; after decades of contributing to society, they are suddenly undeserving recipients, grateful for every time the younger generation takes off from work and play to drop by for a half-hour chat and the requisite Fathers Day necktie…. But this, precisely, is the point: is a persons worth to be measured by his physical prowess? By the number of man-hours and inter-continental flights that can be extracted from him per week? Our attitude toward the aged reflects our very conception of "value." If a persons physical strength has waned while his sagacity and insight have grown, do we view this as an improvement or a decline? If a persons output has diminished in quantity but has increased in quality, has his net worth risen or fallen? Indeed, a twenty-year-old can dance the night away while his grandmother tires after a few minutes. But man was not created to dance for hours on end. Man was created to make life on earth purer, brighter and holier than it was before he came on the scene. Seen in this light, the spiritual maturity of the aged more than compensates for their lessened physical strength. Certainly, the physical health of the body affects ones productivity. Life is a marriage of body and soul, and is at its most productive when nurtured by a sound physique as well as a healthy spirit. But the effects of the aging process upon a persons productivity are largely determined by the manner in which he regards this marriage and partnership. Which is the means and which is the end? If the soul is nothing more than an engine to drive the bodys procurement of its needs and aims, then the body's physical weakening with age brings with it a spiritual deterioration as well—-a descent into boredom, futility and despair. But when one regards the body as an accessory to the soul, the very opposite is the case: the spiritual growth of old age invigorates the body, enabling one to lead a productive existence for as long as the Almighty grants one the gift of life. (The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

Mishlei(Proverbs) 16:31
Gray hair is a crown of glory. It is attained by a life of righteousness.

Mishlei(Proverbs) 20:29
The glory of young men is their strength. The splendor of old men is their gray hair.

In today's society, people dread getting gray, but in truth it is a crown of glory. It is a reward especially if one has lived a long righteous life, following His Torah.

1 Kefa/Peter 5:5
Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for "Elohim resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

In Hebriac culture, the elders were not only aged, but also members of the council. Rulers and judges were selected from among the elderly, because they should have great wisdom.

We should recognize the authority and wisdom from our elders. Let us not fail to spend time with them and listen to them. We have must to learn from them!

Shalom v'brakhot v'simcha,
Moreh Chizkiyah Shlomo (Carl)