Commento su Esodo 20:12

למען יארכון ימיך THAT THY DAYS MAY BE LONG — If thou honourest them they will be long, and if not, they will be shortened — for the words of the Torah may be explained as concise statements: from what is included in a positive statement we may infer the negative and from what is included in a negative statement we may infer the positive (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:12:2).

HONOR THY FATHER. Having finished all that we are obligated towards the Creator Himself and His glory, He turns now to command us about those matters which concern created beings. He begins with the father, for in relation to his offspring, he is akin to a creator, being partner with Him in the forming of the child.⁴⁷¹Kiddushin 30 b: “There are three partners in man: the Holy One, blessed be He, his father and his mother.” G-d is our first Father, and he who begets it [i.e., the child] is our last male parent. This is why He said in the Book of Deuteronomy, [Honor thy father… as the Eternal thy G-d commanded thee].⁴⁷²Deuteronomy 5:16. That is, “just as I have commanded you concerning My honor, so do I command you concerning the honor of those who have joined Me in your formation.” Now Scripture has not explained [the nature of the honor we are to give our parents], for it may be derived from the honor mentioned above that we owe to our first Father, blessed be He. Thus, one is to acknowledge [his male parent] as his father and not deny him, saying of another man that he is his father. Nor should he serve him because of his estate or any other benefit he hopes to derive from him. Nor should he take his father’s name and swear “by the life of my father” in vain or falsely. There are other matters which are included within the term “honor,” for we are commanded in every aspect thereof, and they are explained in the words of our Rabbis.⁴⁷³“What is honoring [one’s parents? It entails] providing them with food and drink, raiment and warmth, and guiding their footsteps [when they are old and infirm]” (Kiddushin 31 b). The Sages have already said⁴⁷⁴Ibid., 30b. that honoring parents has been likened to honoring G-d.
Now since this commandment refers to creatures on the earth, He has designated its reward to be prolongation of life on earth which He will give us. But in the opinion of our Rabbis,⁴⁷⁵Ibid., 39b. the purport of the verse is “that thy days may be long and upon the Land.” [It thus expresses two declarations]: He promises that our lives will be prolonged by observing this commandment — i.e., that G-d will fulfill our days in this world and they will be prolonged in the World to Come, which is unending — and that our dwelling will forever be on the good earth⁴⁷⁶A reference to eternal life. which He will give us. And in the Book of Deuteronomy, He expressly stated it: that thy day may be long, and that it may go well with thee, upon the Land which the Eternal thy G-d giveth thee.⁴⁷²Deuteronomy 5:16. Thus they are two promises.

למען יאריכון ימיך, these are the five Commandments which by their observance contribute to your enjoying a life of a single dimension, i.e. length without breadth, another way of stating what the Talmud called in Kidushin 39 “in a world which consists entirely of “length,” [unlimited duration. Ed.]. By performing these five Commandments one renders honour to G’d, as a result of which the one rendering this honour to G’d will himself become part of G’d’s eternal life. Doing this involves knowing that G’d created the universe out of “nothing,” no physical substance. It also involves accepting G’d as the exclusive Divinity in the universe and therefore not worshipping anyone else or anything else. It also involves not only not rebelling against Him in deed, but not contemplating rebellion even in one’s thoughts or speech It involves actively honouring Him, after all, He is our father, our maker. Are we not commanded to even honour our mortal parents?