Making Gold In Retirement

Retirement. Many people consider it a goal and begin planning for it at a young age. However, a Jew should never retire. That doesn't mean he should never stop working at his paying job or sell his business. But it means that our life, as G-d's employees, is meant to continue to the day we pass from this world. We must continually serve Him through Torah study, mitzvah observance (which includes volunteering), and character development to our last breath. One should try and make these things a full-time "job."

This is why our Sages criticize Yaakov for wanting to "settle down" in tranquility and believing that he had reached that stage where he was entitled to "coast." The moment Yaakov tried to "retire," G-d immediately challenged him with the family challenges between his sons and Yosef's emotionally crushing disappearance.

"Yaakov settled in the land . . . These are the chronicles of Jacob: Joseph . . ." Genesis 37:1-2