On Acquiring Wisdom

One of the hallmarks of wisdom is the ability to learn from experience, both one’s own and that of others. As a rule, wisdom grows with age, as experience accumulates. The elderly, the Gemara says, are entitled to respect by virtue of their store of different experiences — experiences that let them extrapolate to new situations, as well as learn from past mistakes.

There are, of course, many very smart young people. But wisdom is not a quality that we associate with the young, simply because of their limited experience. One of the first and most important lessons I learned as a young litigator was how much more valuable was experience over book learning.

Not by accident does the Gemara associate the term for an older person, zakein, with the acquisition of chochmah. As a general rule, it seems to me that most people become nicer as they grow older (though I can think of plenty of exceptions): more considerate of others, less assured of their own virtue. And much of that growth comes from attending carefully to the lessons that life throws one’s way.

In recent months, I noticed that one of the most dependable members of my early morning minyan was absent several times for a prolonged period of time. The first time it happened, I assumed that he and his wife were traveling or were closeted at home with Covid.