The Russian Army of 150 years ago was no place for a Jewish boy. When a Jew was obligated to serve, the army officers would to try their hardest to eradicate any Yiddishkeit from the soldier during their 25 years of mandatory service. As can be expected, there were therefore Jews doing whatever they could to evade the law, even though the punishment for non-compliance was severe.

In an attempt to get more people into the army, the government tried a new approach: Any “draft dodger” who came forward at this time to serve the Motherland would not be punished, nor would they have to serve the full 25 years of service. It became a heated debate whether to believe the government, or assume it was just another act of the deceiptful government. Somehow, people concluded that the government was being truthful, and many men came out of hiding and enlisted. The government sifted through the applicants and assigned each a different period of service. What became apparent to all was the younger the soldier, the more lenient the authorities were, in regard to the length of their service.

A complaint rang-out from the older applicants “Why is it that those who are younger are given preferred treatment to those who are older?” The answer was as follows: The younger people are more energetic and have a greater ability to service their country. They are doing us a bigger service by turning themselves in. This is not true with the older men. There is little the army can do with them, and their compliance at this time – possibly for many of them – is just a way for them to get free room and board. Many of them are already afflicted various diseases and conditions that typically afflict people of older ages, and therefore are not sought after by us.

This is an example of the days of repentance that are upon us. Last year on Yom Kippur we accepted upon ourselves to serve Hashem diligently. Yet many of us were “Absent Without Leave” throughout the year. Hashem tells us in Elul – a time of “ani ldodi v’dodi li” – that He is willing to review our case and judge us favorably if we come onboard.

Young people generally have a strong yetzer hara, and therefore a young soldier who has vanquished his yetzer hara is of greater service to Hashem. Older people often lack the emotional and physical strength to even do some of the aveiros which they did when they were younger. Therefore, the baalei musar tell us that the teshuva we achieve when we are younger is by far more effective compared to the teshuva attained when we are older.

If you over 50 you may think “I have nothing to look forward to. I am ‘over the hill’ so what good will my repentance be?” Just remember that 60 is older than 50 and 70 is older than 60. As we age, our ability to do teshuva, in a sense, becomes easier, for we have more time to focus on perfecting ourselves as humans, and the yetzer hara is not as strong as it used to be, we are also not full of physical drive as we once were. The downside is that we will not be able to achieve the overcoming of the nisayon that we would have accomplished when we were younger.

In summation, doing teshuva seems to be worthwhile at any age: Everyone at every stage has what to gain by doing teshuva as soon as possible. “uvecharta b’chaim” – we should start the month off by choosing the path of life, and IY”H we will be blessed with all the goodness that Hashem wants to bestow upon us.