Skip to main content

Thought for the Day: Bein Adam l'Chavreiro Bein Adam ;laMakom -- Kibud Av v'Eim

While each mitzvah is a unique entity, they also fall pretty obviously into groups.  As the Derech HaShem says, you don't really understand a topic until you understand both its parts and how its parts are arranged into the whole.  That understanding of how the parts fit into a whole give us some idea about how the mitzvos are meant to function.  Not to say, chas v'shalom, that we really understand any of the mitzvos or how they operate, but is is part of the mitzvah of talmud torah to deepen whatever understanding we can regarding how HaShem runs His world.  Moreover, it is spiritually invigorating to realize another dimension of meaning to even the most mundane actions.

One way to group mitzvos is as bein adam l'chaveiro and bein adam la'makom; between man and his fellow and between man and his Creator.  Yesterday's shalosh s'udos drush delved into how to classify the mitzvah of kibud av v'eim.   On the one hand, it seems clear as day that this is a mitzvah between man and his fellow man.  The entire mitzvah involves nothing but how to treat another human being.  On the other hand, the mitzvah of kibud av v'eim is on the bein adam la'makom lu'ach; along with knowing there is no independent transcendent (good word, no?  it means that it is it beyond human understanding and knowledge) force and keeping Shabbos holy.  So where does it fit?  And since it is on the bein adam la'makom lu'ach, why is it so steeped with bein adam l'chaveiro halachos?

The Bnei Yissaschar explains that everything is really created in a continuum; whenever you so two extremes, it means there is a something in the middle that displays both characteristics.  One of these that you will run into studying hilchos yom tov is the koy.  The koy is an animal that has some characteristics of a beheima/domestic animals (it's internal fats are forbidden, for example) and some characteristics of a chaya/wild animal (the blood from its sh'chiya needs to be covered, for example).  The first example you will run into in the Torah is right on the sixth day: man; creation that balances between the  transcendent spiritual forces and the physicality of this world.

The mitzvah of kibud av v'eim is that middle mitzvah that connect the bein adam l'chaveiro to the bein adam la'makom.  That means that every mundane, physical action of honoring one's parents; preparing food for them, helping them with life transitions, even calling them to make them a part of our busy lives... each and every act is an act of avodas HaShem; directly strengthening, broadening, and deepening our relationship with our Creator.

The rav also mentioned two other middle creations noted by the B'nei Yissaschar: between man and beast, there is the ape; between Jew and goy, there is the ger.  Hmm... that explains a lot.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought for the Day: אוושא מילתא Debases Yours Shabbos

My granddaughter came home with a list the girls and phone numbers in her first grade class.  It was cute because they had made it an arts and crafts project by pasting the list to piece of construction paper cut out to look like an old desk phone and a receiver attached by a pipe cleaner.  I realized, though, that the cuteness was entirely lost on her.  She, of course, has never seen a desk phone with a receiver.  When they pretend to talk on the phone, it is on any relatively flat, rectangular object they find.  (In fact, her 18 month old brother turns every  relatively flat, rectangular object into a phone and walks around babbling into it.  Not much different than the rest of us, except his train of thought is not interrupted by someone else babbling into his ear.) I was reminded of that when my chavrusa (who has children my grandchildrens age) and I were learning about אוושא מילתא.  It came up because of a quote from the Shulchan Aruch HaRav that referred to the noise of תקתוק
Post a Comment
Read more

Thought for the Day: Love in the Time of Corona Virus/Anxiously Awaiting the Mashiach

Two scenarios: Scenario I: A young boy awakened in the middle of the night, placed in the back of vehicle, told not to make any noise, and the vehicle speeds off down the highway. Scenario II: Young boy playing in park goes to see firetruck, turns around to see scary man in angry pursuit, poised to attack. I experienced and lived through both of those scenarios. Terrifying, no? Actually, no; and my picture was never on a milk carton. Here's the context: Scenario I: We addressed both set of our grandparents as "grandma" and "grandpa". How did we distinguish? One set lived less than a half hour's drive; those were there "close grandma and grandpa". The other set lived five hour drive away; they were the "way far away grandma and grandpa". To make the trip the most pleasant for all of us, Dad would wake up my brother and I at 4:00AM, we'd groggily -- but with excitement! -- wander out and down to the garage where we'd crawl
Post a Comment
Read more

Thought for the Day: David HaMelech's Five Stages of Finding HaShem In the World

Many of us "sing" (once you have heard what I call carrying a tune, you'll question how I can, in good conscience, use that verb, even with the quotation marks) Eishes Chayil before the Friday night Shabbos meal.  We feel like we are singing the praises of our wives.  In fact, I have also been to chasunas where the chasson proudly (sometimes even tearfully) sings Eishes Chayil to his new eishes chayil.  Beautiful.  Also wrong.  (The sentiments, of course, are not wrong; just a misunderstanding of the intent of the author of these exalted words.) Chazal (TB Brachos, 10a) tell us that when Sholmo HaMelech wrote the words "She opens her mouth Mwith wisdom; the torah of kindness is on her tongue", that he was referring to his father, Dovid HaMelech, who (I am continuing to quote Chazal here) lived in five worlds and sang a song of praise [to each].  It seems to me that "world" here means a perception of reality.  Four times Dovid had to readjust his perc
Post a Comment
Read more