At age 100: Resting is rusting

What will you be doing when you've reached the century mark?

For some inspiration, read this story about Yiddish translator Eva Zeitlin Dobkin, who recently celebrated her 100th birthday.

Among other projects, she began working in 1984 on the English translation of the Yiddish historical novel Burning Earth (Brenendike Erd), written in 1934. She's now editing the final version.

Her accomplishments include translations of several books, many articles, letters and personal items, as well as the 1999 Profiles of a Lost World: Memoirs of East European Jewish Life before World War II by Hirsz Abramowicz.

Her success, she believes, is due to her parents' focus on education and free schooling, and she says her longevity is due to genetics.

"Pick the right parents and grandparents," she advised, wryly. She won't commit to a future translating project but is considering writing a family history.

There are 18 additional centenarians at the Jewish Home for the Aging in Southern California where she lives.