EXOD943 The phrase "Honor God more than your Wealth" may also be translated as "Honor God more than the one who gives you your wealth," meaning your father. For God gave wealth to your parents, and they gave it to you. A case in point: If both your teacher who taught you God's word and your father are in prison, you should first save your teacher who taught you the Torah [Talmud Baba Metzia 33a] [Sefer Chasidim, paragraph 275].

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EXOD944 Rava said: From here it is derived that a Torah scholar whose inside is not like his outside is no Torah scholar (Yoma 72b).

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EXOD945 We must always try to lighten the burden of others. Chizkinu writes that the Aron (Ark where the original Ten Commandments were placed) which consisted of a wooden layer sandwiched between two golden layers should really have been made entirely of gold. The reason for this was that it had to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites when the Children of Israel journeyed in the desert. If the Ark would have been made entirely of gold, it would have been heavier for the people who were responsible to carry it. Even the Holy Ark was made lighter than it might have been to lighten the burden of the Levites who had to carry it. We should learn from this to always try to alleviate the burden of our fellow men.

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EXOD946 We should not block a path where people need to walk. Chizkinu right said that the poles of the brass altar were removed because the altar was located in a place where people had to pass and it would inconvenience them if the poles would be protruding. The Ark, however, was located in the Holy of Holies. Since only the High Priest entered there on Yom Kippur, the poles intruding from the Ark did not inconvenience anyone. The Midrash (Avos D'Reb Noson 7:1) relates that Eyov's (Job) house had doors on all four sides so that the poor would easily be able to enter without having to walk around the house.

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EXOD947 Judaism does demand that society and all individuals still give respect to senile people, as recorded in the Talmud Berachot 8b. Why is this so…? The same talmudic passage explains, implying that we respect someone for what he or she once was and not for what he or she is today. The talmudic imagery is given as that of the first Tablets, shattered by Moses when he witnessed the people worshiping the Golden Calf. Exodus 32:19 Later, God asks Moses to write a second set of Tablets for the people Exodus 34:1, which were stored in the Holy Ark [this verse]. What happened to the fragments from the first Tablets after they were broken? Were they simply discarded and thrown away? No. They were stored in the Holy Ark as well, along with the second set of Tablets. Berachot 8b. Why were these bits of broken stone placed inside the Holy Ark--they certainly were no longer functioning and would have been no use to anyone? We learn from this an important Jewish concept: even something that no longer has any function today, but that did once have use and was once worthy of respect, must still be respected and is considered special. Thus, the original fragments were saved and stored in the Holy Ark for what they once were and not because of their present value to Jews. For the same reason, an individual who is senile must still be respected. While that individual may no longer function in society and may no longer be the object of respect for current wisdom, the person must still be respected for the wisdom he or she had in the past. In a similar manner, a Torah scroll that was once usable and holy must be treated with respect, even if it is now invalid. It must be given the same respect a human body is accorded upon death, when it loses its soul. The invalid Torah scroll is not thrown away, but must be buried in the ground next to a scholar Maimonides, Hilchot Tefillin 10:3. Thus, Judaism treats anything in Judaism that once had value and holiness with respect, even though its condition has now deteriorated.

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EXOD948 Why were there two cherubs? To teach you that Torah should be studied by two people learning together as study partners. How can you tell who would make a good study partner? If you notice a robust young fellow being humiliated by rogues but he remains silent, that is the person you should choose as your study partner. You should know that whoever is despised by people through no-fault of his own will be exalted in the end [Sefer Chasidim, paragraphs 959-960].

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EXOD949 Arrange the bread on the table in the Beis HaMikdash. Hashem gave us a constant commandment to be carried out with bread because bread is the staff of life and blessing must be found in our bread at all times. To this end, Hashem gives us a constant mitzvah involving bread, and by occupying ourselves in this mitzvah we draw down blessing and the bread in our stomachs will be nourishing and satiating. When a person uses any object for the fulfillment of the Divine Will, the object becomes blessed and gives him benefits. To the extent that we turn our thoughts and efforts towards every aspect of any mitzvah, we will benefit accordingly from wellsprings of blessing contained in the mitzvah. Although we place bread in the Beis Hamikdash and light a Menorah there and bring offerings on the Altar, no one in the world should possibly think that Hashem in any way benefits from the bread, the light or the offerings. All of the mitzvos are for our benefit. Hashem gives us commandments so that through fulfillment of His Will we can draw down His blessing upon us, from His infinite abundance of good.

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EXOD950 Merely to preach love for everybody, in the expectation to be loved in return, is not regarded by Jewish ethics as a principle of action sufficiently potent to mold character or govern society. Man is too much swayed by impulse and emotion and exhibits a partiality that is inimical to strict justice. He must be guided in his actions by the viewpoints of his ancient teachers. "Love, without justice, leads to abuse and persecution [What is the history of mankind's attitude toward the Jew if not a proof of this statement?] The Rabbis read into the two names of God Adonai and Elohim the attributes of Love and Justice. Only when one is tempered by the other can true kindness be exhibited and real loving deeds be performed. It is for men to shape his conduct after the Divine example if he is to lead the life directed in the Torah [Sot. 14a][this verse].

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EXOD951 In the art of living as in the art of sculpture or painting we must reckon not only with aims and motives but also with patterns. Moses, we are told, was shown at Sinai a fiery model for the lamp which he was to make for the tabernacle. The Rabbis took this to be symbolic of the fashioning of human lives as well. Of them, too, it is said: [this verse]. Like a star a man's ideal is high in heaven. Though he may never quite succeed, he must strive to hitch his wagon to the star. In the very endeavor he finds scope for the expansion of his powers and for the growth of the spirit. The person whose eye is set on the highest cannot be satisfied with a pattern derived from the lower order of being. He refuses to regard life as a "strange interlude," composed of nothing but predatory impulses, sex hungers, and animal satisfactions. Neither is he content with a pattern of utilitarian type. His mind has been fired with a higher vision. He strives to fill his life with richer meaning. He no longer lives in the physical tracks of the body. He is conscious of soul life, of reason, of love, of truth, justice, of goodness, of beauty and of holiness. He is a child of the Divine order, created in the very image of God. While his physical being demands care, it must not dwarf the spiritual side of his being, if he is to work out within himself the pattern revealed to him on the height of religious vision. The Midrash comments on the words of Psalm 100:3, "'It is He that made us, and not ourselves'-- we do not make ourselves." Rab Aha adds: "We do not complete our souls." Our perfection as human beings is attained through our consciousness of the Divine. [Gen. R. 100. I; see Sefer Hasidim, 756.] Herein lies the chief service of religion to morality. Plato recognized that morality based upon considerations of reward and punishment or similar ideas of prudentialism lacks intrinsic worth. True morality consists in assimilating man to God.

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EXOD952 We should not speak insolently. Rashi comments that the altar in the Bais Hamikdosh was covered with brass to atone for insolence (literally, brazen brow), as the prophet Yeshayahu said, "And your brow is brass" (Yeshayahu 48:4). Since chutzpa, or insolence, is a very harmful attribute, someone who has this trait must endeavor to uproot it.

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