DEUT1493 The Spiritual Challenge of Economic Wealth. Judaism acknowledges the legitimate satisfaction of man's basic needs, provided that these needs are fulfilled within the framework of morality and justice set up by religious law. Man's economic desires are treated by Judaism in exactly the same way as all other basic human needs: as legitimate, permissible, and beneficial, but restricted, educated, and sanctified by observance of God’s commandments. Both in the blessing given to Adam and in that later repeated to Noah, the Lord gave man dominion over the world and all its creatures-- such dominion to be used for man's material well-being. Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden “to work and guard it.” Judaism envisages a partnership between God and man in which man continues the settlement of the world commenced by the Divine creation and God bestows upon him the Divine blessings. Man's earning of a livelihood and his creation of economic and material assets are seen as reflections of Divine pleasure. Leafing through the pages of the Bible, one is immediately struck by the fact that the observance of God’s commandments leads to an abundance of material goods rather than to some ethereal, otherworldly reward. For example, the Land of Israel, which is the Divinely destined geographic area for the Jews to live in and create a nation of priests, is not a bleak desert area, but a land flowing with milk and honey. A God-fearing man is characterized as one whose flocks and orchards bear their fruit in season and produce a bounty of goods. Indeed, the daily prayers of the Jewish liturgy request, along with Divine forgiveness, peace, and the healing of the sick, a satisfactory livelihood earned through honest and moral means. Contrariwise, in its portrayal of divine anger and punishment, the Bible (in all of its books) depict starvation, poverty, and drought as the just deserts of sinners, whoever they may be. Leviticus ch. 26; Deut. Chs. 27-8. Finally, on the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur, when the books of judgment are opened in which all people are inscribed and sealed, there is also a book of parnasah-- of economic and material welfare. After completing the atonement service, perhaps the pinnacle of Jewish religious life, the high priest offered a special prayer in the Temple, a major component of which is the request for a year of bounty, a year in which Jews will not have to be dependent on others for their livelihood. Obviously, economic wealth and prosperity were regarded as a desirable state-- in contrast to the glorification of poverty an asceticism in other faiths and creeds.

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DEUT1494 What is the intent of "hasketh"? Make kitoth [groups], and occupy yourselves with [the study of] Torah, for Torah is acquired only [by study] with colleagues (Berachoth 63b)

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DEUT1495 The ethics of the halachah denounce a sin committed in secret as they do one which is perpetrated in public. According to Rabbi Isaac (Kidd. 31A): "He who commits a sin in secrecy, it is as if he had thrust aside the feet (the Presence) of the Shechinah. For it is said: 'Thus sayeth the Lord, the heaven is My Throne, and the earth is My footstool; where is the house that ye may build unto Me? And where is the place that may be My resting-place?'" (Isa. lxvi. 6). Helpful, as usual, is the comment of Rashi ad locum: "For him who sins in private God is not omnipresent, otherwise he would not have transgressed. Accordingly, it is as if he thrusts aside the Presence of God from his immediate circle, leaving part of the world devoid of His existence." The well-known statement of Rav (Bezah 9a) that: "Wherever the Rabbis prohibited an action for the sake of appearances, such an action is also forbidden in the intimate secrecy of one's innermost chamber" may have been inspired from a Biblical passage. From a study of the eleven sins, cursed in Deuteronomy xxvii. 15-25, it would appear that although the words "in secret" are mentioned in reference to the first (Cursed be the man that maketh a graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsmen, and setteth it up in secret), and in one other instance (v. 24) they are to be implied likewise in the case of the remaining ten sins. Since God fills the whole world with His glory, there can be no distinction between wrongs done publicly or privately.

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DEUT1496 See [[EXOD427]] Exodus 20:12 honor SEFER 59-60

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DEUT1497 We are forbidden to speak or act disrespectfully to a parent. A person who speaks insolently to his parents or raises his voice to them, falls into this category (Pele Yoatz, section dibur). The same applies to a person who speaks loshon hora against his parents (Chofetz Chayim, Introduction).

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DEUT1498 [Continued from [[EXOD430]] Exodus 20:12 AMEMEI 202 honor]. The passage continues to explain that the child gives a father succulent food, but when the father asks where the food is from, the son answers "Quiet, old man. A dog eats quietly, so you eat quietly." This son inherits hell. However, the second case involved the son who worked at the grindstone. When the king summoned grindstone workers to the Palace to endure back-breaking work, the son told the father to take the son's place at the grindstone and to work, so as not to suffer or be treated in an undignified manner before the king. This son inherits paradise. Therefore, it is clear that if the context diminishes the dignity of the parent, any act is worthless and violates the spirit and intent of Jewish law. Similarly, even if an act seems demeaning objectively, if it preserves a parent's dignity, it is to be praised. This is also the reason one may not curse a parent even after his or her death (Maimonides, Hilchot Mamrim 5:1). Although the parent will not hear it and will not suffer because of the curse, the parent's dignity is still being compromised, and it is, therefore, forbidden. [This] Torah verse cursing a person who dishonors a parent also refers to the child who compromised a parent's dignity. Now that the importance of maintaining the dignity of one's parents has been established, it can readily be understood that many of the arguments between parents and children today are about tone of voice and dignity, rather than about substance. A child must maintain the parent's dignity and respect at all times, even when disagreeing. That is the intention of kavod. This is proven in the law regarding a parent who does not observe the commandment. A child should point out to a parent if he or she is committing a sin. However, Maimonides codifies how a person should address a parent who violates the Torah (Maimonides, Hilchot Mamrim 6:11). One may not say "Dad, you are wrong and doing a sin," but rather, "Let's look up the law together and see what it says." The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De'ah 241:6) codifies this as well, quoting Maimonides almost word for word, but then it adds an explanation "in order not to embarrass the parent." Therefore, even when disagreeing with a parent, which a child often has a right to do, he or she must do so in a dignified manner, to preserve the parent's dignity. Honoring one's parents, that is, keeping their dignity, continues after their death, not only by not cursing them, but also by mentioning them prominently in conversations. During the first year of mourning, one should say each time a parent's words are recalled, "that is what my father, my teacher said" and "let me be an atonement for him (or her)." After the first year, a child adds the words "May his (or her) memory be a blessing" each time the parent is mentioned (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 240:9).

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DEUT1499 Concerning neglecting [the mitzvah of] respect for one's father and mother, which is a positive commandment, the pasuk says [this verse], "Cursed is he who shames his father or his mother." "Shame's" means that he shows them disrespect and contravenes the [requirements of] awe due them, as our Sage's, z"l said, (Kidushin 31b), "'Every man shall fear his mother and father' (Vayikra 19:3). What is the nature of awe for one's father? One must not sit in his father's place, not contradict his words, nor support an opposing viewpoint."

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DEUT1500 It is true that among the tzaddikim there are those who sometimes succumb to sin, as the pasuk says (Koheles 7:20), "For there is no righteous man on earth who does [only] good and does not sin." Yet tzaddikim will subdue their yetzer a hundred times over, and if they fall prey to sin even once, they will not allow it to reoccur, for it leaves them deeply troubled [Yechezkel 6:9], and they repent. Nonetheless, one who is not heedful regarding a known sin, and has not committed to caution concerning it, even if it is one of the more lenient of transgressions, although he may be heedful of all other transgressions within the Torah – – the Sages of Israel have referred to him as (Chulin 4b), "an apostate regarding one matter," who is counted among the evildoers [He is similar to a mumar lehach'is, an apostate who acts out of spite, since he shows no concern for that one prohibition (see Zeh Hasha'ar).], and whose transgression will be too great to bear. For if a servant explicitly tells his master: "I am willing to fulfill whatever you ask of me, with the exclusion of one thing," he has already divested himself of the yoke of servitude to his master [since he arbitrarily chooses which mitzvos to fulfill and which not to, he is referred to as a porek ol -- one who has divested himself of the yoke of servitude to Hashem", and he will do as he sees fit. Regarding this matter the pasuk says [this verse], "Cursed is he who does not uphold the words of this Torah to do them." This means: who is not committed to the fulfillment of all the words of the Torah, from beginning to end. [The expression] "who does not uphold… to do" attests to this--for it does not [simply] say, "who does not do them." [The curse is not directed to any sinner, but only to one who is not committed to full mitzvah observance. See Ramban and Seforno, ad loc.]

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DEUT1502 The Torah curses those who take advantage of another's naïveté or lack of knowledge [this verse]. Since each of us has areas of "blindness"--as well as areas of expertise that enable us to take advantage of others--we may understand this curse as being directed against all those who mislead and deceive others, who engage in acts of g'neivat da'at, "stealing another's mind."

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DEUT1501 See [[LEV372]] Leviticus 19:14 blind TELVOL2 151

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