{"id":86836,"date":"2021-01-17T21:53:37","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T19:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=86836"},"modified":"2021-01-17T21:53:37","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T19:53:37","slug":"longevity-science-and-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/longevity-science-and-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"Longevity, Science And Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"86836","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"657","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The puzzle of the human lifespan\r\n\r\n","content":"

Our psalm contains, inter alia, a pair of oft-quoted verses that describe the impermanence of human existence: \u201cAll our days pass away in Your wrath; we spend our years like a sigh. The span of our life is seventy years, or, given the strength, eighty years; but the best of them are trouble and sorrow. They pass by speedily, and we are in darkness\u201d (9-10).<\/span><\/p>\n

The question of fixed, or maximum lifespans has no precise scientific resolution. To cite the Encyclopedia Britannica:<\/span><\/p>\n

The exact <\/span>duration<\/span> of human life is unknown, although there is presumably a maximum life span for the <\/span>human race<\/span> established in the genetic material. At first thought, this statement seems irrational. Surely no human can live 1,000 years. Even though all may agree that the likelihood of an individual living 1,000 years is infinitesimal, there is no scientific proof that this statement is or is not true. The indeterminacy of the maximum limit of human life is made more comprehensible if one chooses a number that may appear to be a more reasonable limit.<\/span><\/p>\n

In ancient times, the belief was widespread that every person was granted a fixed lifespan by God, but that it could be shortened or extended depending on that individual\u2019s religious behavior. An unrepentant sinner might have his lifespan curtailed, while a righteous person might recover from an otherwise fatal illness. This may be reflected in the talmudic passage that equates Satan, the evil impulse, and the Angel of Death with each other (Baba Batra 16a).<\/span><\/p>\n

Medieval Jewish philosophers were divided. Sa`adyah Gaon agreed with the notion of a fixed lifespan citing \u201cThe number of your days I shall fill\u201d (Exodus 23:26) and God\u2019s declaration to Moses \u201cBehold, your days are approaching to die\u201d (Deut. 31:14), adding, however, that \u201cGod may either increase this measure of time or diminish it\u201d according to one\u2019s actions (Emunot VeDe`ot 6:6). Maimonides, on the other hand, in a responsum entitled \u201cOn Longevity,\u201d wrote: <\/span>\u201cFor us [Jews], there is no predetermined end point of life. The living being exists as long as replenishment is provided [for that amount of] its substantive moisture [i.e. bodily humors] that dissolves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":86840,"id":86840,"title":"ps90-born died","filename":"ps90-born-died.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/longevity-science-and-religion\/ps90-born-died\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps90-born-died","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":86836,"date":"2021-01-17 19:53:16","modified":"2023-08-04 13:26:14","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1436,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-300x224.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":224,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-768x574.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":574,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-1024x766.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":766,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1149,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1436,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-1200x898.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":898,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-562x420.jpg","home_baner-width":562,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Longevity, Science And Religion","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"The puzzle of the human lifespan","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":86840,"id":86840,"title":"ps90-born died","filename":"ps90-born-died.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/longevity-science-and-religion\/ps90-born-died\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps90-born-died","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":86836,"date":"2021-01-17 19:53:16","modified":"2023-08-04 13:26:14","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1436,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-300x224.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":224,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-768x574.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":574,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-1024x766.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":766,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1149,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1436,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-1200x898.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":898,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-562x420.jpg","home_baner-width":562,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86836"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86841,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86836\/revisions\/86841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}