From The Bimah: Jewish Lessons For Life

One of the most evocative figures in the Torah does not get much attention because his brief appearance is embedded in a dry genealogy.  His name is Methuselah. When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he begot Lamech. After the birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and begot sons and daughters. All the days of Methuselah came to 969 years; then he died. (Genesis 5:25-27). Methuselah is famous for two things. He lived the longest of any biblical figure. Moses lived until 120, Methuselah until 969. But Methuselah is known for nothing beyond his length of years. If he touched somebody’s life, if he made the world better, if he inspired love, the Torah contains no record of it. By contrast, the composer Jonathan Larson, most famous for writing the musical Rent and dying at the age of 35 the night of its first performance, inspired this gorgeous song from Rent, sung by Leslie Odom, Jr. called Without You. (Click here for the video) The thesis is: life goes on, as it