This week’s Torah portion includes the Ten Commandments or, as they are called in Hebrew, asseret ha dibrot, the Ten Utterances. The fifth commandment is, “Honor your father and your mother,  that you may long endure on the land that the Lord your God is assigning to you.” (Exodus 20:12)

What does it mean to “honor” one’s father and mother? One explanation from the Talmud is that as children we must show them respect and when elderly, children are obligated to house, clothe and feed their parents. There is no mention of love in either the fifth commandment or this explanation of what honor means.

This is not to say that we should not love our parents, but ensuring their dignity is of paramount importance. A society’s moral virtue is judged by how well it treats and respects its elders. How well do we as individuals or collectively, as a nation, meet this moral challenge?

~Rabbi Dean

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