Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses a sheep that is older than a lamb but not quite the age of a ram. This type of animal is called a palges. The Gemara uses a scriptural derivation:

Why do I need the word “or” in the phrase “or for a ram”? The Gemara explains: It serves to include the sacrifice of a palges in the requirement to bring libations. When referring to sheep, the Torah speaks only of lambs and rams. A sheep during its first twelve months is called a lamb, and one older than thirteen months is called a ram. A palges is a sheep in its thirteenth month and is never explicitly mentioned by the Torah. It is therefore necessary to have an independent derivation to teach that if one is sacrificed, libations must be brought with it.

The Gemara goes on to say that we cannot understand the palges as a category of sheep about which we are unsure whether it is considered a lamb or a ram, because why would the verse need to address an unknown? We have a famous principle that a verse never comes to clarify a physically unknown matter, because as far as God is concerned, there are no unknowns. This is simply a lamb or a ram, not both. Therefore, the Gemara says this derivation is according to the opinion that the palges is considered its own form of animal, neither ram nor lamb. Therefore, we need a verse to teach us specifically what rule applies, and the palges is treated like a ram.

The Toras HaOlah (II:20) explains this philosophically. At times, having more of something does not automatically confer additional value. There is a famous principle in the laws of tereifos that an additional organ is rendered as if it is a missing organ. Thus, a five-limbed animal may be as invalid as a three-limbed one, and if it is on the hind legs—which, when missing, render the animal into a tereifa—so too will five legs (Chulin 58b). Here too, a lamb of one year has reached its perfection; if additional time is added, it does not make it more perfect. And it still has not reached the status of a ram, so it is a question that requires a verse to clarify what type of libation to offer.

The idea that when a developmental state is complete there is a certain perfection and stability achieved is also true in human development. For example, right before adolescence, at the edge of latency, many children reach a high degree of social, emotional, and intellectual competence. They now have the confidence to not be as dependent on their parents and to interact with peers in a sophisticated manner. They understand cause and effect, and are capable of moral reasoning. They are doing great until the storm of adolescence comes and knocks them back to the bottom of a long developmental process that brings them fully into adulthood.

Patterns of nature, spirituality, and psychology are often similar because, after all, they were designed by the same Creator. It is important to appreciate that the completion of a particular stage is a plateau and milestone, and upon entering a new stage, often the same challenges and struggles resurface, albeit with greater depth and sophistication. This is why whenever a person moves to a different stage in life, the same traumas and challenges often resurface all over again. Let us imagine a person who conquered their anxiety in late young adulthood. It is very likely that once they marry and enter a new stage, symptoms may resurface or old traumas will be triggered. The same occurs after having a child. Similarly, when older parents marry off their children for the first time and enter into a new phase, this may cause older patterns to resurface. Recognizing this as a truism of human life and psychology allows one to prepare better and feel less defeated if old monsters resurface.