Retreat on aging being offered

Temple Har Shalom is sponsoring “Embracing Wisdom: Soaring the Second Half of Life” in mid-May, a retreat that promises to reveal the hidden gifts of aging and give tools to harvest them, according to Rabbi Malka Drucker. “While every generation and individual confronts the challenges of aging, those in the second half of life today have 34 more years than those born at the beginning at the 20th century,” she said. “This phenomenon, coupled with new technology, offers an extra stage of emotional and spiritual development that could create a generation that possesses a wisdom greater than any generation before it.”

Drucker, rabbi at Temple Har Shalom, and Rabbis Victor and Nadya Gross will lead the workshop that includes teaching, meditation, collage and journaling. They are “sageing mentors” who write, lecture and teach a new perspective on aging with passion, candor and humor. Although they are rabbis, the retreat is open to all.

“As people age, they need to feel purpose and find meaning in life,” said Drucker. “When society values youth over age, speed over deliberation and the physical over the spiritual, growing older is depressing. It wasn’t always like this. Until the Industrial Revolution, every civilization depended upon its longest-lived members for counsel and guidance. Those who enrich their lives by moving from mere aging to enlightened sageing will also help the world. This retreat is a good start.”

The retreat begins at 6 p.m. Friday, May 19, at St. Hugh’s Episcopal Church and ends at 11 a.m. Sunday. Registration of $275 includes five meals, classes and materials. To register, visit templeharshalom.org.