레위기 19:32의 주석

מפני שיבה תקום THOU SHALT RISE UP BEFORE A HOARY HEAD — One might think this reverence is also due to an ignorant old man! Scripture however says זקן — "thou shalt honour the face of the ״זקן — and זקן denotes only one who has acquired wisdom (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 7 12;Kiddushin 32b).

THOU SHALT RISE UP BEFORE THE HOARY HEAD. “I might think that one is to rise before an uncultured old man; Scripture therefore states, and thou shalt honor the face of ‘zakein’ (the old man). Zakein [from the root kanah, acquire] means only one who has ‘acquired’ wisdom.” This is Rashi’s language. And the text of the Torath Kohanim,²⁰²Torath Kohanim, Kedoshim 7:12. as it is taught in the Gemara of Tractate Kiddushin²⁰³Kiddushin 32 b. [is as follows: “I might think that one is to rise before an uncultured old man;] Scripture therefore states zakein, the word zakein meaning only one who is wise, as it is said, Gather unto Me seventy men ‘miziknei’ (of the elders) of Israel.²⁰⁴Numbers 11:16. And since these seventy elders were to constitute together with Moses the members of the Sanhedrin, it is clear that miziknei means “of the wise men” of Israel. And Rabbi Yosei the Galilean says: The word zakein means only one who has ‘acquired’ wisdom, as it is said, The Eternal ‘kanani’ (made me) [literally: acquired me, i.e., wisdom] at the beginning of His way.”²⁰⁵Proverbs 8:22. The sense conveyed is: “G-d created me [i.e., wisdom] to be His acquisition at the beginning of Creation.” Now according to the words of both of them [i.e., the First Sage in this Beraitha and Rabbi Yosei the Galilean], this commandment [of honoring the aged] applies only if he is a scholar. And Onkelos who rendered the verse before us: “thou shalt rise up before him who understands [the knowledge of] the Torah, and honor the face of the aged,” would also seem to agree with this opinion [that zakein is one who “acquired” wisdom]. Yet despite all this, the concluding opinion of the Gemara in accordance with the final decision of the law is not so, for the Rabbis have said [in the Gemara]:²⁰³Kiddushin 32 b. “Isi the son of Yehudah says: Any hoary head is included [under the terms of this commandment], and Rabbi Yochanan said: The final decision of the law is as Isi the son of Yehudah interpreted it.” Thus Scripture is commanding [in the first half of the verse] to honor any old man, even the uncultured, that is, the unlearned, and then [in the second half of the verse] it gives another commandment concerning the zakein, that is one who has acquired wisdom, even if he be young and learned. It is possible that this is also the opinion of Onkelos, except that he translated the hoary head as “young and learned” [and hence the first half of his translation reads, “thou shalt rise up before him who understands — the knowledge of the Torah,” meaning even if he is young and learned], since the term zakein [in the second half of the verse, which clearly means “one who has acquired wisdom”] came and indicated that the term hoary head includes all kinds of old age, whether old in the knowledge of the Torah or old in days.²⁰⁶For otherwise why did the Torah use two different terms: seiva (the hoary head) and zakein (the old man)? Onkelos thus reasoned that since zakein definitely means “he who has acquired wisdom,” it shows that seiva must mean all kinds of old people, whether learned or not learned. Hence in translating the verse he rendered zakein first and then seiva, although in the Hebrew text the order of the terms is the opposite. In short, then, it may be that Onkelos also agrees with the opinion of Isi the son of Yehudah that one must show honor to all kinds of old people, whether aged in the knowledge of the Torah or just aged in years.

מפני שיבה תקום, while it is in order to show respect and deference to someone whose experience in life is based on his age, this does not compare to the respect and deference that we must show to

מפני שיבה תקום, "You shall rise in the presence of an aged person, etc." Kidushin 32 explains that the word שיבה refers to someone advanced in years, whereas the word זקן refers to someone who has acquired wisdom. The word תקום means to rise as a sign of respect, והדרת פני. The wording in the Talmud is difficult as in order to correspond to what the Talmud says the Torah should have written: מפני שיבה ומפני זקן תקום והדרת. Perhaps the Talmud intended to distinguish between different signs of recognition to be accorded to physical maturity, old age, and to spiritual maturity, i.e. זקנה. In the former case it suffices to rise from one's seat momentarily, whereas in the latter case one is to remain standing for longer; the idea is that זקנה, spiritual maturity, rates a greater degree of recognition than שיבה, mere physical old age.

ויראת מאלוקיך אני ה', “you shall be in awe of your G’d, I am Hashem.” Ibn Ezra sees in our verse a warning by G’d that if we fail to accord honour and accord dignity to the elderly, He may punish us for this in our own old age. Other commentators see in the statement a reminder that these elderly have been honoured by G’d with attaining long life and wisdom, and it would not do for us not to accord them at least the same recognition that G’d has shown them. They back up their approach by quoting Isaiah 24,23 ונגד זקניו כבוד, “and the Presence (of G’d) will be revealed to His elders.”

מפני שיבה תקום, “in the presence (arrival) of a biologically old person you shall rise.” This regulation applies even to an aged person who is totally uneducated, unaware of Torah laws and consequently often contravenes them. Onkelos translates the word לא תשם in Genesis 47,19 as לא תבור, “let it not become like a בור, “uncouth, uncultured.” In other words, he thinks that all biologically aged people deserve this measure of respect.

Perhaps even an ignorant (אשמאי) old man. Rashi [on that Gemara] explains that this is an expression of אשם (sin), meaning, a wicked man who is liable for many sins. Rabeinu Tam explains that this person is an ignoramus [desolate of wisdom], as in the expression “not become desolate (תשם)” (Bereishis 47:19), which Unkelos translates as לא תבור, i.e., desolate. (Gur Aryeh) You might ask that this [Rashi’s interpretation] is obvious, since why would one think that a wicked man should be honored? The verse (Shemos 22:27) writes, “Do not curse a leader of your people” [from which the Sages deduce in Bava Metzia 48b that this only applies] “when he acts [according to] the behavior of your people”! The answer is that one may have thought one has to stand in the presence of a wicked [old] man because he must have lived a long life due to having fulfilled mitzvos, and thus, one may have thought he must be honored. Therefore, the verse is necessary.

An elder and you shall have fear. This is a warning to the elderly person that he should not cause others trouble.

AND THOU SHALT HONOR THE FACE OF THE OLD — What does the term "honoring” an old man imply? That one should not sit in his seat nor contradict his statements. One might think that one is allowed to close one’s eyes as though one does not see him (the old man)! Scripture however states "but be afraid of thy God”, because in this thing it is given to the heart of him only who does the action to know the motive that prompts him for no one has an insight into this except himself, and in reference to any thing where it is given only to the heart to know, Scripture states “and thou shalt be afraid of thy God Who knows thy secret thoughts״ (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 7 14; Kiddushin 32b).

פני זקן, the elder who has achieved his rank in society due to his Torah knowledge, his constant striving to become more closely attached to G’d. (compare Kidushin 32.)

The words והדרת פני זקן, “you shall honour the presence of a sage,” on the other hand, is a sign of much greater respect. Our sages understand the very word זקן as an acronym of the words זה שקנה חכמה, someone who has acquired wisdom. They base this interpretation on Proverbs 8,22: ה' קנני ראשית דרכו, “the Lord has acquired me (endowed me with wisdom) at the beginning of His way.” At any rate at this point the words of Onkelos suggest that he understands both the word שיבה and זקן as people possessed of varying degrees of wisdom due to their age, the former less than the latter. The former may be proficient only in the written Torah, the latter also in the oral Torah.

Only one who has acquired wisdom. This is not derived from an acrostic of זקן, but from the gezeirah shavah זקן זקן regarding the elders of Yisroel as it is written (Bamidbar 11:16), “Whom you know to be the people’s elders (זקני), and its officers,” meaning that they are great and wise.

We may also take our cue from Bereshit Rabbah 65,9 where we are told that Abraham asked to look old in order that he could be told apart from his son Isaac who resembled him greatly (based on Genesis 24,1 ואברהם זקן). When the Torah says to rise on account of a man aged in years, this is the way to be מהדר, to lend distinction to someone like Abraham who was advanced in years.

It states, “in the presence of the elderly,” and close by it says, “If a proselyte comes to live with you,” to inform that even in the presence of an ignorant elder you shall rise.

Perhaps he is permitted to close his eyes. You might ask, how can one think he is permitted to close his eyes? Obviously, this would be a transgression! The explanation is that he might think he is permitted to close his eyes before he reaches his four amos, since he is not obligated to rise before him until he enters his four amos.

There may also be an allusion here to the statement in Bereshit Rabbah 12,6 that one of the consequences of Adam's sin was that he lost in "height," i.e. that the wicked do not attain their full height or that they shrink in height. G'd therefore commanded Adam to be sure to repent his error and to mend his ways so that he could attain his full stature. Our sages said in Yevamot 50 that if one possesses the necessary merit one is granted the full number of years allocated to him (70 or more) at birth; if one has not lived in accordance with G'd's commandments one forfeits some of these years and dies before one has completed the normal lifespan of 70 years. The word קומה therefore does not represent physical height but spiritual height. The measure of the verse then is: "if you want to reach a good old age, attain the spiritual height you are meant to attain!" The verse challenges each individual to develop to his full spiritual potential as much as it directs us to display honour for people who have attained old age. Inasmuch as Kohelet 12,1 has already told us that old age is frequently accompanied by afflictions so that one curses those years, the Torah suggests that the way to head off these frequent by-products of aging is to תקום, rise to one's spiritual stature מפני, on account of what might otherwise befall one in old age. Once one reaches that stage, one becomes totally dependent on G'd's personal and beneficial providence.

The words והדרת פני זקן may even allude to one's own old age; our sages (Sukkah 53) are on record as saying about themselves: "hail to our youth which has not shamed our old age;" they referred to the kind of old age in which one can recall that one had led an exemplary life already from one's youth so that no one could point to a "skeleton in one's cupboard." The Torah therefore advises young men to lead the kind of lives now that would not make it necessary for them to ever be ashamed of their younger years. We are taught in Chagigah 14 that when a righteous person departs this life they compliment Abraham in heaven on the fact that this righteous person was a descendant of his. On the other hand, when a wicked person dies not only does no one compliment Abraham, but he is pained by the failure of that person to have become a penitent before he died. When the Torah speaks of "enhance the face of the old man," the reference is to Abraham who feels chagrined that not all of his descendants are true to his example. The Torah continues to warn us of what is in store in the hereafter by writing ויראת מאלוקיך, "and you shall fear your G'd." This refers to the fear of the punishment to be meted out when the soul comes up for judgment. אני השם, "I am the Lord." This refers to the reward for one's exemplary lifestyle, i.e. that one qualifies for life in the hereafter. Alternatively, these concluding words of our verse may illustrate both fear and love. G'd is telling us that He is to be both feared and loved. G'd's very name is the epitome of love, He is the root cause of all love.