When Near Becomes Far

Author(s):  
Mira Balberg ◽  
Haim Weiss

When Near Becomes Far explores the representations and depictions of old age in the rabbinic Jewish literature of late antiquity. Through close literary readings and cultural analysis, the book reveals the gaps and tensions between idealized images of old age on the one hand, and the psychologically, physiologically, and socially complicated realities of aging on the other hand. The authors argue that while rabbinic literature presents various statements on the qualities and activities that make for good old age, on the respect and reverence that the elderly should be awarded, and on harmonious intergenerational relationships, it also includes multiple anecdotes and narratives that portray aging in much more nuanced and poignant ways. These anecdotes and narratives relate, alongside fantasies about blissful or unnoticeable aging, a host of fears associated with old age: from the loss of beauty and physical capability to the loss of memory and mental acuity, and from marginalization in the community to being experienced as a burden by one’s own children. Each chapter of the book focuses on a different aspect of aging in the rabbinic world: bodily appearance and sexuality, family relations, intellectual and cognitive prowess, honor and shame, and social roles and identity. As the book shows, in their powerful and sensitive treatments of aging, rabbinic texts offer some of the richest and most audacious observations on aging in ancient world literature, many of which still resonate today.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Avi Bitzur ◽  
Mali Shaked

The world in which we live is aging at a dizzying pace and expressions like “70 is the new 50” or the creation of concepts such as the “Silver Tsunami”, a nickname for the aging baby-boomer generation, have become an inseparable part of the reality in our society.On the one hand, the spread of aging is a welcome phenomenon – a sort of solution to the great human effort to reach immortality. On the other hand, however, old age can be perceived as a period burdened by economic, social and health-related challenges and it is becoming more and more clear that throughout the world, and in Israel in particular – the focus of this article - we must begin to prepare systems and services for the provision of rapid and comprehensive solutions for the tsunami of aging that befalls us. This stems from an understanding that the services we have in place today are not sufficiently prepared to handle the range of challenges and issues that will arise as a side effect of this phenomenon.The dilemmas that come hand in hand with the aging of our population are innumerable, however five particular issues stand out: the first is who should be responsible for the elderly and their care – the government or the person’s family? The second: Should all of the elderly receive the same care or should the treatment assistance vary differentially – meaning each elderly person should receive care according to his or her economic, social and health status and receive only according to their needs? The third is, should we provide assistance to the elderly directly (e.g. specific medications) or should the elderly receive financial assistance equivalent to the value of their needs and should we hope that they purchase the relevant medications, for example, and not something else instead? The fourth dilemma is: should we provide assistance for specific projects or should we work on long-term solutions through legislation to provide care and assistance to the elderly? Fifth, which is also the main questions, is should the services provided be privatized or should the treatment be the responsibility of the state and its institutions?The question of privatization or nationalization is the main focus of this article, and while we do not pretend to offer a firm stance on the issue, the authors offer to shed some light on the basic concepts associated with our aging population and how we as a society might handle these issues from the perspective of comparison between privatization versus nationalization of services rendered. The main focus of this article will be around the issue of the residential arrangements for the elderly: Mainly - should the elderly move into what are typically called “old age homes” or should we allow for “Aging in Place” – an approach that favors allowing the elderly to remain in their own homes for the remainder of their lives. Which is the most favorable solution? This issue also falls under the dilemma of whether or not homes for the aging as one possible solution should be a state-provided service or if “aging in place” will result in the privatization of the services granted to the elderly.The focus of this article is the situation in Israel, a country in which a significant portion of the population is elderly and where, by 2035, 15% of the population will be considered senior citizens. We will present the dilemma through the lens of the situation in Israel. The article shall begin with an introduction offering an in-depth examination of the dilemma presented. We will continue by presenting basic concepts from the general literature in the field of gerontology available today. We will then examine the situation in Israel between the years 2017-2019 and conclude by examining the concepts of privatization and nationalization in regards to services for the elderly, while once again emphasizing that comprehensive solutions to these dilemmas are unlikely to be reached in the near future.


Scrinium ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-61
Author(s):  
Geoffrey D. Dunn

Abstract The Bible has a variety of perspectives on old age. On the one hand, as exemplified in Ps 91(90):16 and 92(91):15, old age is a sign of God’s blessing and the elderly are held in high regard as valuable, while on the other, as exemplified in Ps 39(38):5; 71(70):9; and 90(89):10, life is seen as fleeting and length of days as insignificant and the elderly fear neglect. The psalms held a high place in Augustine’s Christian identity. This paper explores Augustine’s use of these verses to consider the extent to which his religious outlook shaped his perspectives on ageing, as well as addressing the question of whether or not he was aware of the conflict between the two perspectives. It will be argued that Augustine was not interested in the contradictions presented by the psalmist, and that he interpreted all the verses through an eschatological framework, such that an evaluation of the meaning and value of life is to be found only through a perception of eternity.


Author(s):  
Hermann Zeitlhofer

AbstractDespite the growing interest historians have expressed in old age and ageing in recent decades, our knowledge of the labour force participation of elderly people in pre-industrial times is still very limited. This is due to the fact that historians have, for far too long, discussed ‘old age’ mostly in terms of ‘providing for the elderly’ whilst more or less ignoring the wide range of activities the elderly were engaged in as well as the high rate of life-long labour force participation before the late 19th century.This study, on the one hand, discusses the social position of ‘retirees’ (former rural house owners), a social position often seen as an archetype for modern ‘retirement’. Numerous examples are presented from the regional case study of South Bohemia as well as from other parts of Central Europe showing that pre-modern retirees quite often continued to work in many different ways. In many cases inter vivos transfers of land and houses were not undertaken in order to allow for retirement from all activities but rather to facilitate a change in the individual’s own main focus of activity from one occupation to another. In a second part of the study the economy of makeshifts of the poor is analysed. Using rare sources from several South Bohemian parishes enables us to document the importance of the mixed economy of the poorest section of the rural elderly.


Author(s):  
Nina Macaraig

This chapter describes how the hamam began to show signs of aging. This included a redefinition of its economic family relations, as it became a burden to the endowment and was rented out according to a practice that approximated the status of renters to that of owners. Furthermore, old age now meant that after a disastrous fire in 1865 novel city planning practices assigned less value to the sixteenth-century structure and allowed the monument to be mutilated for the sake of building a European-style boulevard wide enough for tramway traffic. At the same time, the hamam took on a new identity as an emblem of Ottoman cultural heritage to be displayed at nineteenth-century world fairs and exhibitions which required each nation to represent itself by easily recognizable architectural icons. With the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, this split identity continued: on the one hand, hamams constituted an old, redundant institution standing for the Ottoman Empire and lifestyle, resulting in neglect and destruction; on the other hand, they were part of the cultural heritage that every nation-state needs to legitimise itself. Nevertheless, the Çemberlitaş Hamamı managed to survive for practical reasons, as it still provided hygiene and entertainment.


1998 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wortley

A large collection of short Greek poems made in the tenth and eleventh centuries at Constantinople contains items ranging back many centuries. These shed some light on many aspects of Hellenic life and attitudes, but light of what validity it is hard to be certain as these poems are to a certain extent literary conceits. Insofar as they are more than that, they reflect some interesting attitudes to aging and the aged, especially women. They reflect (for instance) scorn for the woman who used to trade the charms which she has now outlived, but a surprising degree of affection for the elderly woman who has aged gracefully and retained her lover's devotion. They reflect the qualms and fears of the man who perceives the onset of old age, the anger of the one who fights against it, and the calm of him who is resigned to it. They provide some evidence of the ills that drove working men and women into retirement and some rare evidence of what constituted a working life, at least for charioteers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-54
Author(s):  
Ilona Zakowicz

in every given period one can observe different attitudes towards old age, death and the elderly, which are shown through varied stances and ideas about this specific period of human life. The reality of the xxicentury often regarded as “vision-centric” is dominated by the cult of beauty and youth which creates increasingly demanding requirements, rela-ted mainly to the attractiveness of appearance, of the body – especially the one belonging to the elderly. The increase in the number of senior citizens compared to the rest of the society that can be witnessed nowadays leads to the elderly being amore carefully examined social group. Mediated by the media discourse the images of the elderly are becoming more common and therefore the author’s attempt at reconstructing the postmodern strategy of the rendering of late adulthood seems to be an interesting and important topic to consider.


2020 ◽  
Vol XI (2(31)) ◽  
pp. 143-167
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Dubas

The text presents geragogy ( first of all from from polish research perspective) that is frequently described as pedagogy of old age, but here presented as a pedagogical subdiscipline dealing with education aimed at old age. It points to the beginnings of geragogy and its position in the system of scientific research concerning old age and ageing that are, on the one hand pedagogical and on the other remaining in the realm of gerontology. It presents the subject matter of geragogy highlighting the key research context that education plays here, including its various functions. The work outlines the sections and contemporary fields of geragogical research and also reveals the character of geragogy as science as well as its methodology. Additionally, it presents the model of a geragogue as a specialist dealing with educational support for people (not only the elderly ones) as far as experiencing old age and the processes of ageing are concerned.


Author(s):  
Andri Setyorini ◽  
Niken Setyaningrum

Background: Elderly is the final stage of the human life cycle, that is part of the inevitable life process and will be experienced by every individual. At this stage the individual undergoes many changes both physically and mentally, especially setbacks in various functions and abilities he once had. Preliminary study in Social House Tresna Wreda Yogyakarta Budhi Luhur Units there are 16 elderly who experience physical immobilization. In the social house has done various activities for the elderly are still active, but the elderly who experienced muscle weakness is not able to follow the exercise, so it needs to do ROM (Range Of Motion) exercise.   Objective: The general purpose of this research is to know the effect of Range Of Motion (ROM) Active Assitif training to increase the range of motion of joints in elderly who experience physical immobility at Social House of Tresna Werdha Yogyakarta unit Budhi Luhur.   Methode: This study was included in the type of pre-experiment, using the One Group Pretest Posttest design in which the range of motion of the joints before (pretest) and posttest (ROM) was performed  ROM. Subjects in this study were all elderly with impaired physical mobility in Social House Tresna Wreda Yogyakarta Unit Budhi Luhur a number of 14 elderly people. Data analysis in this research use paired sample t-test statistic  Result: The result of this research shows that there is influence of ROM (Range of Motion) Active training to increase of range of motion of joints in elderly who experience physical immobility at Social House Tresna Wredha Yogyakarta Unit Budhi Luhur.  Conclusion: There is influence of ROM (Range of Motion) Active training to increase of range of motion of joints in elderly who experience physical immobility at Social House Tresna Wredha Yogyakarta Unit Budhi Luhur.


2019 ◽  
pp. 5-34
Author(s):  
Anna L. Lukyanova ◽  
Rostislav I. Kapeliushnikov

The paper analyzes changes in job opportunities of older workers in Russia in the period 2005—2017. The study uses the data from the Russian Labor Force Survey conducted by Rosstat. Changes in the occupational and industrial composition of elderly workers follow the trends pursued by other age groups: employment shifts from low- to high-skilled occupations, from physical to intellectual labor, and from material production to the service sector. We find a stronger polarization among older workers as their occupational structure is biased in favor of, on the one hand, the most and, on the other hand, the least qualified types of jobs. Employment of the elderly has fallen sharply in agriculture and manufacturing with a significant increase in trade, education, and health. Although the employment structure of older workers is generally more “traditionalist”, recent decades have witnessed its transformation in “progressive” directions, similarly to other age groups. These findings suggest that the legislated increase in the state retirement age is not likely to give rise to sizeable unemployment among the elderly. Most of them will be able to work in the occupations and industries previously dominated by young and prime-age workers.


TEKNOSASTIK ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dina Amelia

There are two most inevitable issues on national literature, in this case Indonesian literature. First is the translation and the second is the standard of world literature. Can one speak for the other as a representative? Why is this representation matter? Does translation embody the voice of the represented? Without translation Indonesian literature cannot gain its recognition in world literature, yet, translation conveys the voice of other. In the case of production, publication, or distribution of Indonesian Literature to the world, translation works can be very beneficial. The position of Indonesian literature is as a part of world literature. The concept that the Western world should be the one who represent the subaltern can be overcome as long as the subaltern performs as the active speaker. If the subaltern remains silent then it means it allows the “representation” by the Western.


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