הוֹד־וְהָדָ֥ר לְפָנָ֑יו עֹ֥ז וְ֝תִפְאֶ֗רֶת בְּמִקְדָּשֽׁוֹ׃
Честь и величие перед Ним; Сила и красота в Его святилище.
Kedushat Levi
Leviticus 19,32. “you shall rise before the aged and show deference to the old, you shall fear your G’d.” Seeing that we have pointed out that the principal element in what is called “fear of the Lord,” is the awe with which we should relate to His sublimity and awesomeness, רוממות, a title which stems from the fact that He is the Originator of all the phenomena that we can perceive with our senses as well as the ones we cannot perceive, He deserves our utmost respect. When a human being has attained that level of insight he is called בן אהוב למקום, “a beloved son of G’d.” When a mortal father has a son whom he loves beyond all else in life, that son will be most careful not to cause his father any grief whatsoever. Conversely, this son will go out of his way to cause his father only pleasure and satisfaction. Paraphrasing this example, our sages in the Zohar III,7 state that Israel provides parnassah, sustenance, for the Almighty. This sustenance consists of their studying Torah, serving Him with prayers and by performing charitable deeds for their peers, as well as keeping the other commandments of the Torah. If they were, G’d forbid, to fail to do all this, our sages in Chagigah 15 lament, “what would become of the Shechinah”?
The wording in the Talmud describing the Shechinah’s reaction to Israel’s failing to serve the Lord and to observe His commandments, is קלני מראשי, “I feel that my head is confused, wobbly.” In other words, our misconduct causes G’d the equivalent of physical pain and confusion.
A tzaddik will worry all his life that he should not cause his father in heaven any grief or pain. He constantly endeavours to only be the cause of his Father in heaven feeling well and satisfied with His creatures.
The condition known as יראת שמים, when applied to the tzaddik, is his fear of the attribute of Mercy, i.e. that G’d would have to apply that attribute when judging him in order that he would not come to harm. [When Yaakov awoke from his dream of the ladder he vowed that if he would return to his father’s home safely, he would tithe all his acquisitions henceforth, and that he was henceforth ready to be judged by the attribute of Justice instead of having to hope for the attribute of Mercy dealing with his shortcomings. (Compare Genesis 28,21). Ed.] Ordinary people generally are afraid of the attribute of Justice dealing with their transgressions.
The tzaddik’s philosophy is not limited to his personal relationship with G’d, but he hopes that his meticulously observing G’d’s commandments without his looking for reward, will encourage G’d to increase the flow of His largesse to the Jewish people and that as a result these will benefit in all spheres of life from that largesse. He is aware that nothing pleases the Lord as much as having an excuse to direct an ever increasing flow of this largesse to His people. The termsזקן as well as שיבה, are synonyms for the attribute of mercy as we know from Pessikta Rabbah 21 where G’d is perceived as having appeared to the Jewish people at the revelation in the guise of a bearded old man, one who is full of compassion. Keeping this in mind, we can understand the commandment to treat the aged and old with deference and respect as an exhortation to relate to G’d with such feelings. The words: והדרת פני זקן, may therefore be understood as a command not to cause the Shechinah to call out in pain קלני מראשי, “my head is in turmoil.” Instead, we should ensure that the verse speaking of הוד והדר לפניו עוז וחדוה במקדשו, that “glory and majesty are before Him and strength and splendour in His Temple.” (Compare psalms 96,6)
The wording in the Talmud describing the Shechinah’s reaction to Israel’s failing to serve the Lord and to observe His commandments, is קלני מראשי, “I feel that my head is confused, wobbly.” In other words, our misconduct causes G’d the equivalent of physical pain and confusion.
A tzaddik will worry all his life that he should not cause his father in heaven any grief or pain. He constantly endeavours to only be the cause of his Father in heaven feeling well and satisfied with His creatures.
The condition known as יראת שמים, when applied to the tzaddik, is his fear of the attribute of Mercy, i.e. that G’d would have to apply that attribute when judging him in order that he would not come to harm. [When Yaakov awoke from his dream of the ladder he vowed that if he would return to his father’s home safely, he would tithe all his acquisitions henceforth, and that he was henceforth ready to be judged by the attribute of Justice instead of having to hope for the attribute of Mercy dealing with his shortcomings. (Compare Genesis 28,21). Ed.] Ordinary people generally are afraid of the attribute of Justice dealing with their transgressions.
The tzaddik’s philosophy is not limited to his personal relationship with G’d, but he hopes that his meticulously observing G’d’s commandments without his looking for reward, will encourage G’d to increase the flow of His largesse to the Jewish people and that as a result these will benefit in all spheres of life from that largesse. He is aware that nothing pleases the Lord as much as having an excuse to direct an ever increasing flow of this largesse to His people. The termsזקן as well as שיבה, are synonyms for the attribute of mercy as we know from Pessikta Rabbah 21 where G’d is perceived as having appeared to the Jewish people at the revelation in the guise of a bearded old man, one who is full of compassion. Keeping this in mind, we can understand the commandment to treat the aged and old with deference and respect as an exhortation to relate to G’d with such feelings. The words: והדרת פני זקן, may therefore be understood as a command not to cause the Shechinah to call out in pain קלני מראשי, “my head is in turmoil.” Instead, we should ensure that the verse speaking of הוד והדר לפניו עוז וחדוה במקדשו, that “glory and majesty are before Him and strength and splendour in His Temple.” (Compare psalms 96,6)