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Parashat Kedoshim – 5784
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites
The first half of Parashat Kedoshim lists the commandments under the heading “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your G-d am holy.” This list includes commandments between man and his G-d, such as observing the Sabbath and refraining from idol worship, as well as social commandments, such as refraining from vengeance and the obligation to judge others fairly.
One of the commandments in this list is “You shall rise before a venerable person and you shall respect the elderly.” The practical expression of this commandment is the obligation to stand up before an elderly person and honor them. In the Babylonian Talmud, we find a discussion about whether this specifically refers to a scholar or to any elderly person. The Talmud recounts sages who showed respect to every elderly person, Jew and non-Jew alike, and quotes Rabbi Yohanan, one of the great sages of Israel in the third century, who explained his practice of honoring every elderly person with the sentence: “How many incidents and cases have these people experienced!”
The attitude towards the elderly in Judaism is one of respect. The elderly are not categorized as the weak in society, like the poor and the stranger. The elderly symbolize wisdom, individuals to consult with because of their rich life experience, people who inspire respect and appreciation. The young are called to acquire the wisdom of the elderly, to listen to their advice, and to recognize the rich experience they have gained over the years.
The respect that the young are required to give to the elderly is not superficial respect. The Jerusalem Talmud brings two extreme stories illustrating this:
A man may feed his father fattened chickens and inherit Gehinom while another may put his father to work treading a mill and inherit the Garden of Eden. How is it possible for a man to feed his father fattened chickens and still inherit Gehinom?
There once was a man who used to feed his father fattened chickens. Once his father said to him, “My son, where did you get these? He answered: “Old man, old man, shut up and eat, just as dogs shut up when they eat.” Such a man feeds his father fattened chickens but inherits Genhinom.
How is it possible for a man to put his father to work in a mill and still inherit the Garden of Eden?
There was a man who worked in a mill. The king ordered that the millers be brought to work for him. The man said to his father, “you stay here and work the mill in my place, and I will go to work for the king for if insults come to the workers, I prefer that they fall on me and not on you. Should blows come, let them beat me and not you.” Such a man puts his father to work in a mill and yet inherits the Garden of Eden.
Jerusalem Talmud Kiddushin 1
In our era, with emerging technologies and the rapid transfer of information, there’s a perception that “the world belongs to the young.” Every youth knows how to operate complex systems more easily than their elderly counterparts. Workplaces prefer young, flexible workers who adapt to changing technologies over older, experienced employees. Humanity as a whole struggles against aging. Beauty products and plastic surgeries are the means to achieve eternal youth.
However, the Torah teaches us to honor the elderly. Not out of pity, but to recognize their extensive experience and learn from them. The Torah does not consider the youth as strong and superior who should pity the weak elderly. The Torah’s intention is the opposite: we should honor the elderly because they are superior. This is because every elderly person has something that no youth has: wisdom acquired through a lifetime of experience. The experiences they’ve had, the insights they’ve gained, the long life they’ve lived – have given them a deep perspective on life, a perspective that the youth cannot attain until they too become elderly.
And how is this related to the title of the portion “Kedoshim”? A society that worships power, money, publicity, and rapid change – is not a holy society. A society that worships wisdom and understanding, depth and sensitivity, experience and learning – is a holy society. A society that respects its elders is a society that holds within it a ladder of worthy values that the Torah esteems.
