Chasidut su Levitico 19:3
אִ֣ישׁ אִמּ֤וֹ וְאָבִיו֙ תִּירָ֔אוּ וְאֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתַ֖י תִּשְׁמֹ֑רוּ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
Temerai ogni uomo sua madre e suo padre e osserverai i miei sabati: io sono il Signore tuo Dio.
Kedushat Levi
Leviticus 19,3. “every person is to revere his or her mother and father and you are to observe My Sabbath days.” It is a psychological rule that when someone is afraid of something or someone, a small portion of the fear is transmitted and radiated by his personality when he is in contact with others. Clearly, he is not able to reflect the full extent of his fear, especially when the subject is fear of the Lord, as the whole concept of G’d is a concept that cannot be adequately expressed in mere words.
As a practical example of what we mean, take the powerful phenomena in nature, all of which through being His creatures are clearly in a state of awe vis a vis their Creator, so much so that a small portion of this awe is transmitted to the person or persons looking at these powerful phenomena such as the sun, electrical storms, the vast firmament filled with stars, etc. At the same time, none of these phenomena are able to transmit the full extent of their awe for the Creator to the people who look at them.
[The way that various parts of the physical universe reflect a minute part of the fear of the Lord with which they relate to Him is that they appear to us as sources of outpourings of blessings or curses. It is possible to err and to feel that this reflected fear of the Lord emanated by them is the “real” thing, i.e. that these phenomena though mere creatures are Divine. This is a “chance” that the Creator has taken, relying on our common sense not to mistake the agent for the originator. This also was G’d’s answer to the questioner who accused G’d of misleading us by providing a sun which could be mistaken as a deity. I have felt it necessary to insert this paragraph. Ed.]
The abstract phenomenon reflecting fear of the Lord, i.e. reverence for the Lord in this universe, is called Shabbat, on account of it signifying the Creator projecting His supremacy by abstaining from His primary function of creative activity. We, His people, by abstaining from actual work on the Sabbath but still thinking about it, reflect that we have absorbed the concept which the Sabbath is meant to convey. When the Torah links fear of one’s parents to observance of the Sabbath, it alludes to the fact that just as our parents are not really our creators but are each only a “shadow” of the Creator, [אדם בצלם נברא, “man was created as a “shadow, image,” Avot 3,14.Ed.] so the Sabbath is a concept that transcends our ability to fully understand, as it is a Divine concept and we can only understand certain parts of it. By emulating to the best of our ability what He did on the Sabbath of creation, we are able to absorb some of the true meaning of the Sabbath concept.
As a practical example of what we mean, take the powerful phenomena in nature, all of which through being His creatures are clearly in a state of awe vis a vis their Creator, so much so that a small portion of this awe is transmitted to the person or persons looking at these powerful phenomena such as the sun, electrical storms, the vast firmament filled with stars, etc. At the same time, none of these phenomena are able to transmit the full extent of their awe for the Creator to the people who look at them.
[The way that various parts of the physical universe reflect a minute part of the fear of the Lord with which they relate to Him is that they appear to us as sources of outpourings of blessings or curses. It is possible to err and to feel that this reflected fear of the Lord emanated by them is the “real” thing, i.e. that these phenomena though mere creatures are Divine. This is a “chance” that the Creator has taken, relying on our common sense not to mistake the agent for the originator. This also was G’d’s answer to the questioner who accused G’d of misleading us by providing a sun which could be mistaken as a deity. I have felt it necessary to insert this paragraph. Ed.]
The abstract phenomenon reflecting fear of the Lord, i.e. reverence for the Lord in this universe, is called Shabbat, on account of it signifying the Creator projecting His supremacy by abstaining from His primary function of creative activity. We, His people, by abstaining from actual work on the Sabbath but still thinking about it, reflect that we have absorbed the concept which the Sabbath is meant to convey. When the Torah links fear of one’s parents to observance of the Sabbath, it alludes to the fact that just as our parents are not really our creators but are each only a “shadow” of the Creator, [אדם בצלם נברא, “man was created as a “shadow, image,” Avot 3,14.Ed.] so the Sabbath is a concept that transcends our ability to fully understand, as it is a Divine concept and we can only understand certain parts of it. By emulating to the best of our ability what He did on the Sabbath of creation, we are able to absorb some of the true meaning of the Sabbath concept.
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Chovat HaTalmidim
Good lads and young men, please judge for yourselves - you have begun to internalize our words up to this point, in which we have made you understand what a Jewish young man [actually] is, how God is inseparably connected to him and the yoke that he must bear in developing His holy people - please tell me, is there any greater grief than the grief from these haughty ones; is there any blemish like their blemish? Jewish young men, we do not need to warn you about this terrible character trait. We are certain that the words of God - "A man must fear his mother and father" (Leviticus 19:3); and "The fear of your teacher should be like the fear of the Heavens" (Avot 4:12) - are engraved upon your hearts. You know quite well that it is God who is teaching you Torah; and that the voice of God is encased in the voice and words of your rabbi when he speaks to you about matters of Torah, divine service and even about proper behavior according to the Torah. And the fear and joy, the fright and terror that the people of Israel experienced at the time they were at Mount Sinai and heard the voice of God in flames of fire - some of that is also with you now when you are in the yeshiva: When you remind yourselves that the room in which you are in now is full of angels and seraphim and that God's voice comes out from among them - encased in the voice of your rabbi entering your ears and your heart - fright and joy, fear and love shake your body and roil your heart, and you humble yourselves to the Torah of our God heard in the words of your rabbi.
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