Are Younger People Happier?

Originally published on Gimme Some Torah by Rabbi Eli Garfinkel on November 5, 2026.

A displeased young woman—Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Bereshit/Genesis 24:1

וְאַבְרָהָם זָקֵן בָּא בַּיָּמִים וַיהֹוָה בֵּרַךְ אֶת־אַבְרָהָם בַּכֹּל׃

Abraham was now old, advanced in years, and GOD had blessed Abraham in all things.

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Gen. 24:1 says that Abraham was old and of advanced age. The Hebrew idiom for “advanced age” is בָּא בַּיָּמִים (ba bayamim), which literally means, “coming into the days.” Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz (bio), also known as the Kli Yakar, says that this idiom is curious. He says that an old person should be called יָצָא מִן הַיָּמִים ָ(yatza min ha-yamim), which means, “exiting from the days.”

The Kli Yakar’s point is that younger people have their life ahead of them while older people are closer to their death. He asks why the Torah says Abraham was “coming into the days” even though his days were numbered. His answer is that we should be happier the older we get:

Regarding what is written “came into days [ba bayamim],” for apparently it should have said “went out from the days [yatza min hayamim].” However, this is because it is characteristic of the wicked that their days of youth are for them days of light and a bright day, as these are good for them for their physical pleasures, as this is their entire purpose.

And the days of old age are for them like night and not day, for the world becomes dark for them since they can no longer taste the honey at the edge of the staff. Therefore, the earlier days are better for them than these [later days], as if they are exiting from days into nights.

But for the righteous, the approach is reversed — they come from nights into days, for the days of old age are better for them for acquiring wisdom. This follows what is said: Do not say, “Why were the earlier days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this (Ecclesiastes 7:10). For one who says this does not value wisdom, therefore regarding the righteous it says “came into days” in their old age.

This interpretation speaks to me because my life has gotten better and better even though, at least according to my Gen-Z kids, I am ancient. My teens and twenties were not so great, to be perfectly honest. But things have improved greatly since then; I have gained from the wisdom that the Kli Yakar wrote about.

According to this article, the young enjoy better physical health while older people have better mental health. I wholeheartedly agree.

We live in a youth-obsessed society. Everyone seems to care what younger people buy and think, but not enough of us care about what our elders know. We wrongly think that we become less and less relevant as we age. In reality, the opposite is true—having access to the wisdom of older people is like having the answers to the test ahead of time.

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