Why, in the top age bracket, is the 'value' of a woman closer to that of a man than in the lower ones?
Rashi: In keeping with the saying 'An old man in the house is an obstacle in the house; an old woman in the house is a treasure and a good sign in the house'.
What is the highest age to which Erchin apply?
Rashi (in Bechoros 12b DH u'Mosifin): There is no highest limit. 1
Moshav Zekenim (citing R. Yehudah ha'Chasid): Until the age of seventy-two. 2
The simple reading of the verse, Gemara and all the Meforshim (with only one exception - refer to 27:7:151:2) hold like this. (PF)
We find that the Erchin until twenty years (five Shekalim from a month until five years, and twenty Shekalim from age five to twenty) are [together] twenty-five, a fifth more [than the top age], and also from twenty to sixty, it is a fifth more than the Erech (fifty Shekalim), also above sixty, the Erech (fifteen) is a fifth more [than the number of years it spans - another twelve years. Each time, it is a fifth more in a different way! First, the sum Erchin for two age brackets is a fifth more than the top age of the higher bracket. (This is an outer fifth - a quarter of twenty the smaller amount.) Then, the top age of the next bracket is a fifth more than the Erech (unlike before, when the Erchin were greater! Also, now it is an inner fifth - a fifth of fifty, the smaller amount!) And the last Erech is an [outer] fifth more than (not the top of the last age bracket, rather,) the number of years in the top bracket! How can we learn Torah law from a verse of Tehilim? Also, there is no source to exclude the years of nursing! Also, it is a fifth more only for males, and not for females! This requires great investigation (PF). Until age seventy-two). Moshe alluded to this in Tehilim 90:10) "Yemei Shenoseinu Shiv'im Shanah" - excluding two years of nursing. "Es Mispar Yamecha Amalei" (Sh'mos 23:26) - and the Gematriya of "Amalei" is seventy-two.
