Lechayim! To life! Our shul is 120 years old. For Jews, 120 is a special number that symbolizes completion, a complete life. Scripture tells us that Moses, our greatest rabbi, lived 120 years. “Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated.” (Duet. 34:7) According to Rashi, “his vigor unabated” means the life-sap that was in him did not depart, and the
appearance of his face had not changed. (Sifrei Devarim 357:35).
The connection between Moses’s lifespan and completion is not accidental. In order to mitigate man’s propensity to sin and become corrupted, God limited the life of a person to 120 years. The Lord said, “My breath shall not abide in man forever, since he too is flesh; let the days allowed him be one hundred and twenty years.” (Gen. 6:3) Onkelos, echoed by other commentators, explains that God set a time for mankind to repent. Ramban expands: “…The purport is to state that ‘God made man upright’ (Ecclesiastes 7:29) to be like the ministering angels by virtue of the soul He gave him. But he was drawn after the flesh and corporeal desires; ‘he is like the beasts that perish’ (Psalms 49:13), and therefore the spirit of God will no longer be sheathed in him for he is corporeal and not godly. However, He will prolong for them if they repent.”
Before departing at 120 years, Moses summarized the 42 journeys in the 40 years the People of Israel had spent in the desert. “Moses recorded the starting points of their various marches as directed by the Lord. Their marches, by starting points…” (Num 33:2) At first glance, it is clear that the people endured much.
However, Moses reminded them where they had begun, and that their difficulties are actually their future’s building blocks that imbued the experience with a value that has endured, much like Moses himself.
Similar to the People of Israel, Congregation Tifereth Israel has experienced many different stops in time. We can look back at the amazing journey and see how far we’ve come. Like Moses, CTI is still in full vigor — an ode to the past 120 years and prayers for 120 more.
—Rabbi Gadi Capela