Zakein v’savea, mature and content. Horav Yechezkel Levenstein, zl, explains this description of Avraham Avinu’s life as zate teg, satiated days, days that were completely filled with carrying out the will of Hashem. Our Patriarch lived 175 years, 365 days a year, 30 days a month, seven days a week, 24 hours a day – every moment devoted to serving Hashem. The concept of wasting time did not exist. Hashem grants us the gift of life for a purpose. How we fill our time determines how much we value that gift. If someone receives an appliance for which he has no purpose, the gift is essentially wasted on him. Can we daresay this concerning our lives? Just ask someone in the emergency room or in intensive care how much every extra minute of life means to him.
Ponovezher Rav, Horav Yosef Kahaneman, zl, visited America and, during his visit, he had occasion to participate at a bar mitzvah in Telshe Yeshivah. (I remember the visit, not the dvar Torah.) It was Shabbos mevorchim ha’chodesh, and he was asked to honor the simchah with a d’rashah. He wondered why, during mevorchim ha’chodesh, which is a prayer for the coming month, do we also ask v’sitein lanu chaim aruchim, “and grant us long life.” What place does a prayer for longevity have as we pray for the next month? He explains that a complete moment of service to Hashem is equivalent to chaim aruchim. We have no idea of the value of just one moment, but one thing is certain: We can achieve eternity in one minute. Thus, chaim aruchim means full life. We pray that, during the coming month, we will savor and value every moment, so that it turns into chaim aruchim.
