EXOD415 Another example of a moral rule handled halakhically is the hallowed: "Honor thy father and thy mother" [this verse] and "You shall fear every man his mother and father" [Leviticus 19:3]. In the analysis given to these commands by the rabbis, vague admonitions were spelled out in concrete terms so that these moral concerns could be realized in the ordinary and varied situations of life. Thus, "honor" is construed as the obligation, should it be necessary, to feed, clothe, shelter, and escort one's parents, from the parents' resources when possible, but if not, from one's own resources. "Fear" is interpreted as reverence, to be expressed in not sitting in one's parent's chair and in not interrupting their conversation -- being respectful in speech and gesture, no matter how great the provocation. Parental authority is limited to the framework of the Torah. That is to say, parents need not be obeyed when their commands are contrary to the rules of the Torah. The rabbis also ruled that one did not have to follow his parent's advice in the selection of a mate. They also discuss the priorities that should obtain in honoring father, mother, and teacher. The principle was expanded to include one's older brother and the obligation to honor parents even after their death. (Sefer HaChinukh, mitzvot, 33,48, and 212.)

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EXOD413 [This verse is one of] three laws in Torah for the obeying of which God promises either long national or personal life, and all three involve issues of ethics and kindness. [The others are letting the mother bird go when collecting fledglings or eggs -- Deuteronomy 22:6-7, and using honest weights and measures -- Deuteronomy 25:15].

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EXOD422 It was taught: It is written: "Honor your father and your mother," and (Proverbs 3:9): "Honor the Lord from your wealth." Just as there, expenditure is indicated, here, too, expenditure is assumed (Kiddushin 32b)

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EXOD423 It was taught: R. Shimon b. Yochai says: Great is the honoring of father and mother, the Holy One Blessed be He having preferred it to His own honor. For with respect to His honor it is written (Proverbs 3:9): "Honor the Lord from your wealth." "From your wealth"--If you have [money], you are obligated [in the performance of mitzvoth entailing expense], and if not, you are exempt. In respect to the honoring of parents, however, it is written: "Honor your father and your mother" -- even if you must go collecting from door-to-door [in order to do so] (Yerushalmi Peah)

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EXOD433 The Rabbis taught: It is written: "Honor your father and your mother," and (Proverbs 3:9): "Honor the Lord from your wealth." Scripture hereby likens honor of father and mother to that of the Holy One Blessed be He (Kiddushin 30b)

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EXOD434 The Rabbis taught: What constitutes "honor?" Feeding and giving to drink, clothing and covering, leading in and leading out (Kiddushin 31b)

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EXOD431 The love of father and mother should take the form of loving one's parents for having raised him and for having labored with him, and for having taught him God's ways, and for having shown him and guided him in Torah and mitzvos, and for having enabled him to fulfill the Blessed One's mitzvah [this verse]: "Honor your father and mother." And as to his brothers, sisters and other relatives, he should love them in consideration of their occupying themselves with him to elevate his character and to aid him in Divine service. And he should occupy himself with them, to teach them and to chastise them, without playing favorites. He will thereby receive great reward and he will be manifesting a great trait, as it is written (Tehillim 15:3): And he has not borne shame because of his relatives." A man derives much benefit from his relatives. Witness the case of Lot, whom Avraham rescued from the kings (Bereshis 14: 14-16) and for whom he fought and who was rescued even from Sodom in Avraham's merit (ibid. 19:29). And one should love his friends and all other Jews with perfect love, as it is written (Vayikra 19:18): "And you should love your fellow man as yourself." And this is a great principle in the Torah: "What you hate, do not do to your friend (Shabbos 31a). And even greater than this (Bereshis 9:6) "For in God's image did He make man" (Yerushalmi Nedarim 9:4).

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EXOD437 Another reason to be good is to achieve another kind of reward. In general the Torah never states a specific reward for a specific Jewish act or Mitzvah. The exception to that rule is found in only three places, which promise long life as a reward for doing these actions (either long life in this world, the next world, or both). [This verse, Deuteronomy 22:6-7, 25:15; Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed 3:48]. What are the three actions and what do they have in common? The first is honoring one's parents. The second is sending away the mother bird before taking her eggs, which Maimonides explains, trains a person to have mercy on all animals and human beings as well. The third is being honest in business. All three require acts of goodness between men that involve justice, kindness, and doing the right thing. Therefore, to attain long life, a person should be a good person who does good acts on a daily basis. The idea of long life (be it in this world or the Next World) is not only about years. Everyone naturally wants immortality, to continue to live beyond life, even though everyone dies. But by doing good acts, people can attain immortality. How? Rashi explains that the Torah mentions the death of the evil Terach, Abraham's father, long before he actually died in order to teach us that an evil person who contributes nothing to this world is considered dead even when he is physically still alive. But Rashi continues and explains that the opposite is also true. If we are good parents, our ideas, ideals, and values live on after us through our children. Rashi commentary on Genesis 11:32 .... [I]mmortality can indeed be achieved by doing righteous acts that affect people. The impact of these acts continues long after the person dies physically, which helps immortalize a person and continues his or her influence forever. Chofetz Chaim enhances this concept when he says that one strong act of kindness can impact not only one person, but can continue to have impact from generation to generation until the end of time. Shemirat HaLashon 1:7 Therefore, by being good, a person has the potential to affect thousands or even tens of thousands of individuals for the better and change the world positively forever.

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EXOD438 See [[684]] Exodus 22:23 your OXFORD 39

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EXOD439 The biblical theology of reward and punishment (see chapter 1 of this volume) surely underwrites much of the rabbinic concept of obeying the law [E.g., M. Makkot 3:16, the homiletic end to a tractate on the application of the biblical punishment of forty lashings. "Rabbi Hananiah ben Akashiah said: The Holy One of Blessing wanted to provide an opportunity for merit to Israel, and therefore multiplied the Torah and its Commandments." We may also think of the rabbinic pleasure in detecting -- constructing, rather -- "measure for measure" relationships between an act and its perceived consequence, displayed in M. Sotah 1:6-7 et al. The rabbis add the notion of earning life in "the world to come" in the biblical notion of "reward," M. Pe'ah 1:1, also added to the morning blessings in traditional prayer books, and in many other places (e.g. Leviticus Rabbah 35:5-6)], but talmudic texts are all too aware that that equation is anything but easy to decode. Here we may think of the famous story of Elisha ben Abuya (B. Haggigah 14a-15a), who is one of "us" but then turned into Aher, the paradigmatic "Other," by abandoning the whole idea of Torah observance after watching a boy, following his father's command to get eggs from a bird's nest, climb up and shoo away the mother bird, but then he falls off and dies in contradiction to the Torah's promise of long life for honoring one's parents (Exodus 20:12) and for shooing away the mother bird (Deuteronomy 22:6–7) [Milton Steinberg's 1939 novel As A Driven Leaf, incorporates this story--AJL] -- all in all one of the central rabbinic narratives for the question of the odyssey], and it is not generally put forward as an incentive for observance. (By Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert, “Ethical Theories in Rabbinic Literature”)

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