The Oxford English dictionary defines the word testament as…

The Oxford English dictionary defines the word testament as a formal declaration, usually in writing, of a person's wishes as to the disposal of his property after his death; a will. What I am trying to do here is give over to you or dispose my property which is what I have learned in my generous years of living. What I'm giving over to you is truly not mine. The truth is that I never had anything. RBSO was good enough to give me the responsibility of managing certain things while I was alive.

— from Before Takeoff (front matter) · Hebrew Ethical Wills by Israel Abrahams

In the book

What this book is. The dictionary calls a testament a formal declaration of how a person wishes to dispose of his property after his death. That is what I am doing here — except the property I am handing over is simply what I learned in my generous years of living, and the truth is it was never really mine; I was given the use of it for a while. People call this an ethical will. — Before Takeoff (front matter)

The whole of a life, when it is finally tallied, is simply the honest sum of where the hours actually went — not where you meant them to go. This entire book is, in the plainest sense, my testament to you — not a will disposing of property, but a formal handing-over of what I actually learned in the air. People care, near the end, about what becomes of what they leave and of the ones they leave it to. — The Landing (Death)

What I am handing you in this book is, in truth, not mine to give. I never really owned any of it; I was given the responsibility of managing certain things for a while, and what I learned in those generous years is what I am now disposing to you. Take it the way you'd take the cash — you can keep the credit. — Legacy / The Logbook (Legacy/Epilogue)

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