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The Second Mountain 

SPIRIT
A WORD OF TORAH

W

hat do you do when 
you have achieved 
it all, when you 
have risen to whatever career 
heights fate or providence has 
in store for you? What do you 
do as age lengthens its shadow, 
the sun sinks, and the body 
is no longer as resilient or the 
mind as sharp as it once was?
That has become a major 
problem as life expectancy 
has increased in most parts 
of the world. There has been 
nothing quite like it in history. 
In America, in 1900, average 
life expectancy was around 41 
years, in Europe 42.5. Today 
in Britain, for men it is 79, for 
women 83. Much of that has 
to do with a huge reduction 
in infant mortality. None the 
less, the sheer pace in the rise 
in longevity — every decade 
since 1900, life expectancy has 
risen by about three years — 
remains remarkable. What will 
keep you young in spirit even 
if the body does not always 
keep pace?
The biblical case study is 
Moses, of whom we are told 
that even at the end of his life, 
“his eye was undimmed and 
his natural energy unabated.” 
At the opening of today’s 
parsha he says, “I am now 
120 years old. I can no longer 

come and go, and the Lord has 
told me, ‘You shall not cross 
this Jordan.’” 
Rashi points out that 
the “I can no longer” 
does not mean that he 
lacked the strength. It 
means that he no longer 
had permission. The 
moment had come when 
he had to hand on the 
role of leader to his 
successor and disciple, Joshua. 
He himself stayed full of vigor, 
as the passion of his speeches 
in the book of Devarim, 
delivered in the last month of 
his life, testify.
To understand what Moses 
epitomizes at the end of 
his life, two closely related 
concepts are helpful. The 
first is Erik Erikson’s idea of 
generativity, the seventh of 
his eight life stages. Relatively 
late in life, he argues, many 
people’s perspective changes. 
They begin thinking about 
legacy, about what will outlive 
them. Their focus often shifts 
from self to others. They 
may devote more time to 
family or community or care 
or voluntary work. Some 
mentor young people who are 
following in their career path. 
They make commitments to 
others. They ask themselves, 

how can I contribute to the 
world? What trace will I leave 
on those who will live on after 
me? What, in the world, 
is better because of me?
The second and 
related idea is David 
Brook’s concept of 
the second mountain. 
Speaking to people over 
70, he found that early 
in their lives they had 
identified the mountain they 
were going to climb. They 
had specific aspirations about 
family and career. They had a 
vision of the self they wanted 
to become. By age 70, some 
had achieved it and were 
happy. Others had achieved 
it only to find it not entirely 
satisfying. Yet others had been 
knocked off the mountain by 
misfortune.

THERE IS ALWAYS MORE 
TO STRIVE FOR
At a certain age, though, many 
identified a second mountain 
they wanted to climb. This 
mountain was not about 
achieving but about giving. 
It was less about external 
accomplishment (success, 
fame) than about internal 
accomplishment. It was 
spiritual, moral; it was about 
devoting yourself to a cause or 

giving back to the community. 
It is often, he says, a yearning 
for righteousness, an inner 
voice that says, “I want to do 
something really good with 
my life.” This second peak, 
associated with later life, may 
well prove more significant to 
our sense of self-worth than 
the ego-driven ascent of the 
first mountain.
The case of Moses sets all 
this in dramatic perspective. 
What do you do if you have 
already achieved what no 
human being had ever done 
before or would ever do in 
the future? Moses had spoken 
to God face to face. He had 
become His faithful servant. 
He had led his people from 
slavery to freedom, put up 
with their complaints, endured 
their rebellions and prayed 
for — and achieved — their 
forgiveness in the eyes of God. 
He had been the agent 
through which God had 
performed His miracles and 
delivered His word. What else 
is left to do after such a life?
His closest friends and 
allies, his sister Miriam and 
brother Aaron, had already 
died. He knew that the decree 
had been sealed that he would 
not cross the Jordan and lead 
the people on the last stage of 

Rabbi Lord 
Jonathan 
Sacks 

