Community Magazine April 2014

48 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE 900 to 950 years), except for Hanoch, who is explicitly described as having died young (5:24) and may therefore be removed from consideration. After Noah, however, the lifespan decreases steadily, falling from 959 years for Noah (10 th generation) to the “traditional” span of 120 years by the time of Moshe (26 th generation). Consider the following scenario. When Adam and Havah were in the Garden of Eden, they were destined to live forever, perhaps because they did not possess any of the genetic defects that nowadays cause aging (as discussed earlier). Moreover, they were not subject to the non-genetic causes of mortality unrelated to aging. In the Garden of Eden, there were no traffic accidents, no virulent diseases, and no violent crime. Alternatively, just like many life forms which do not age, perhaps Adam and Havah were also created with those properties that allowed them to live forever. When Adam and Havah ate the “forbidden fruit,” they were banished from the Garden of Eden and forced into the outside world. Of course, once they were outside the Garden, they became subject to the usual non-genetic causes of death that afflict us all (accidents, diseases, etc.), and thus they became mortal. Indeed, this is precisely what Gd meant when He told Adam and Havah that “on the day you eat of the tree of knowledge, you will die” (Beresheet 2:17). This means not that they would die on that day, but rather that they would become mortal – subject to death. The key point of our proposal is that even after leaving the Garden of Eden, Adam and Havah did not have the genetic defects that cause aging, and therefore they did not age. This can explain both their great longevity (930 years for Adam) and their ability to bear children at a very advanced age. We have already seen that in the absence of aging, the average human life span would be about 1300 years. Thus, what we really need to explain is not why the early Biblical lifespans were so long – but why they were so short! In this regard, we note that there is no reason why the non-aging lifespan should be the same today as it was in early Biblical times. Back then, they presumably had fewer traffic accidents, but they also did not have the antibiotics to cure diseases. Indeed, the difference of only 40 percent between the contemporary non-aging lifespan (about 1300 years) and the early lifespan (900-950 years) should be viewed as remarkably small. This approach also explains the advanced age of childbearing listed for the early generations. Metushelah and Lemech were nearly 200 years old when they sired children, and it is explicitly mentioned that they had other children even later in life. Similarly, Noah was 500 years old when his three sons were born. Moreover, at the age of 600 years (Beresheet 7:6), Noah was placed in charge of the complicated enterprise of building and outfitting the Ark, hardly a task that could be assigned to a doddering old man. Thus, it is clear that Noah not only lived extremely long, but remained biologically young throughout his life. The ability to bear offspring until the end of life is characteristic of animals and plants that have unusually long lifespans. Recall the 80-year-old Andean condors, the 150-year-old sturgeon, and the 1,000-year-old conifers discussed earlier. Moreover, long lifespans are also associated with the absence of other signs of aging. Thus, the unusually long lifespans of the early generations in Beresheet are consistent with their ability to sire children at an advanced age, and a lack of signs of aging. In conclusion, the recent dramatic scientific discoveries regarding aging provide the basis for a comprehensive explanation of all aspects of the extreme longevity of the early generations described in the first Book of the Torah. Adapted from an article that appeared in ‘The Jewish World of Wonders’, which was written by Professor Nathan Aviezer. Fulmars Studies show that fulmars show no increase in mortality rate and no decline in reproduction up to at least the age of 40 years. Certainly, no species of similarly-sized mammals maintain their fertility at a comparable age. Do these birds avoid aging altogether? We do not know. Many species of conifer live for 1000 years, producing seed year after year. The greatest individual lifespans are found in the bristlecone pine. The ages of some of these trees exceed 4500 years! Bristlecone Pine Conifers