English translation — יתרו ב

Sicha 2<pg>90</pg>

1.

The Ramban wrote in his commentary on the Torah<sup>1</sup>

that "the Ten Commandments: five are for the honor of the Creator and five for the benefit of man,

for 'Honor your father' is the honor of God, because for the honor of the Creator He commanded to honor the father who participates in the creation<sup>2</sup>

and the remaining five are for man for his need and benefit."

And it is understood from his words,

that honoring father and mother is also included in matters between man and the Omnipresent,

therefore its place in the Ten Commandments is in the first five commandments, all of which are matters between man and the Omnipresent<sup>3</sup>,

because this is

("the honor of God")

the main point<sup>4</sup>

unlike the honor of the father and mother.

And in education, in the roots of the commandment of honoring father and mother<sup>5</sup>

It says "that it is fitting for a person that he recognize and repay kindness to one who did good with him, and not be a villain and estranged and ungrateful, for this is an evil and utterly abominable trait before God and people,

And that he put to his heart that the father and the mother are the cause of his being in the world, and therefore in truth it is fitting for him to do for them all honor and all benefit that he can, for they brought him into the world,

Also they toiled with him several toils in his childhood,

And when he receives this trait in his soul, he will ascend from it to recognize the goodness of God, blessed be He, who is his cause and the cause of all his forefathers until Adam the first, and that He brought him out into the air of the world and supplied his needs all his days and established him in his proper form and the perfection of his limbs,

And He gave in him a knowing and intellectual soul, that were it not for the soul that God graciously gave him, he would be like a horse, like a mule without understanding,

And he will consider in his thought how much and how much it is fitting for him to be careful in His service, may His name be blessed"<sup>6</sup>.

And to note that according to the words of the Chinuch it is explained

(only)

that there is a connection between honoring father and mother and honoring God<sup>7</sup>,

for through the establishment of the recognition of the goodness of his father who gave birth to him,

he will ascend from it to recognize the goodness of God, blessed be He<sup>8</sup>

; but<pg>91</pg>

From the language of the Ramban perhaps it implies,

that honoring the father himself is primarily honor of the Holy One, blessed be He,

"for for the honor of the Creator He commanded to honor the father who participates in the creation",

that for this reason the commandment of honoring father and mother is fundamentally not from the "five of man"⁹

but from the first five commandments that speak "about the honor of the Creator"¹⁰.

B.

And one can say the explanation in this:

In Chinuch the language is that "the father and mother are the cause of his being in the world..

also they toiled over him with several exertions in his childhood",

and in Ibn Ezra¹¹

"the son did not come into the world except through his parents and they raised him and nurtured him and reared him and gave him drink and fed him and clothed him".

But in Ramban he specifies that the father "participates in his formation",

and nothing more.

And simply its source is from our Sages of blessed memory¹²

"Three partners are in a person etc. When a person honors his father and his mother, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I consider it as if I dwelt among them and they honored Me"¹³.

And it can be said,

that this that the matter of honoring father and mother is itself "honor of God" is only because "participates

(with the Holy One, blessed be He)

in his formation".

For this that parents do everything for the son,

"raised him and nurtured him etc.'",

this is not in the category of "partnership" with the Holy One, blessed be He,

for even though the truth is that He, may He be blessed, "sustains the entire world",

nevertheless,

since these actions are things that are in nature,

that a person does

(as if)

by his own power,

this is not called "partnership" with the deed of the Holy One, blessed be He; but not so the formation of the child,

that this is not in the power of man alone to bring the child into the world except only with the addition of a revealed "partnership" of the Holy One, blessed be He,

that "He gives¹⁴

in him spirit and soul etc.'"¹⁵.

And perhaps one could say,

that also the part of the father and mother

(the body)

depends in an open manner on the Holy One, blessed be He¹⁶,

and as is known¹⁷,

that the power of procreation in creations is not in them from their own essence but is the power of the Infinite and Unlimited of the Holy One, blessed be He.

For creations from their own essence, they are according to their definition in measure and limit, and it is not applicable that there should be in them from their own essence the power of procreation, which is a power without limit,

to procreate ad infinitum

(and also the essence of procreation is a matter of renewal,

like something from nothing),

and it is only from the power of the Infinite of the Holy One, blessed be He, that He fixed in the human body the wondrous power to do.

And likewise it is simply in animals

(and see below section 5).

<pg>92</pg>

[And to note¹⁸

that there are several people

(men and women)

who are healthy and complete in the utmost health,

to the extent that there is no lack at all in the organs of their body,

and nevertheless they do not procreate,

because the matter of procreation is not a natural matter alone,

but depends on the drawing down of the power of the Infinite for procreation to be,

and as it is written¹⁹

"Male and female He created them, and God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, etc.'",

that even when they are complete in the nature of their body so that they can procreate,

nevertheless they need a blessing that they should be fruitful and multiply,

and this blessing is the power of the Infinite that is drawn into the person so that he can procreate²⁰].

And since the entire matter of the creation of the child is not possible except through the revealed partnership of the Holy One, blessed be He,

therefore,

when one honors the father from the aspect of this matter that he "partners in his creation,"

this is also "honor of G-d."

And this is also the point of the explanation in the words of the Ramban that honoring father and mother is "honor of G-d,"

from his words it is understood

(as above in section 1)

that in its essence it is a matter of "between man and the Omnipresent"

(therefore it comes in the first five commandments).

3.

And it will be understood more by prefacing the words of the Gemara²¹

: "At the time that the Holy One, blessed be He, said 'I am' and 'You shall not have,' the nations of the world said, 'He is seeking honor for Himself,

When He said 'Honor your father and your mother,' they returned and admitted to the first statements"

(And in Rashi: "All the more so that a person is obligated in his honor, for He too is a partner in his creation like his father and mother,

and his life and death are in His hand").

And in the explanation of the words of the Gemara, the Chida wrote²²

Based on what the Rambam wrote at the beginning of the Laws of Idolatry: "In the days of Enosh, people made a great error, and the counsel of the wise men of that generation became foolish..

And this was their error: they said, 'Since God created these stars and spheres to govern the world, and placed them on high and gave them honor, and they are servants who minister before Him, it is fitting to praise them, glorify them, and give them honor, etc.' They began to build temples for the stars, offer sacrifices to them, etc., and bow down to them, and this is the essence of idolatry" — and similarly in our case,

that the nations of the world thought as the Rambam said, that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave honor to the stars and spheres and placed them on high, and this is an act that He did, and from it they would learn to honor them and bow down to them,

And afterwards, when they heard 'I am' and 'You shall not have,' they said, 'He is seeking honor for Himself, that He was jealous, Heaven forbid, and does not want anyone to be honored, and a statement does not come to nullify an act,'

When they heard 'Honor your father,' and He equated their honor to His honor, as it were,

from this they knew that, Heaven forbid, He was not jealous, for He commanded to honor parents with the force of honor, and equated the honor of parents to His honor²³,

and it is forced that He placed the constellations and stars etc. on high to illuminate the lower world, but not to worship them and bow down to them, and they returned and admitted specifically to the statements, that even though it is a statement, it does not contradict the act, Heaven forbid"²⁴.

And behold, regarding the explanation mentioned above, the Tzemach Tzedek also wrote²⁵,

and adds there an explanation of the reason<pg>93</pg>

the distinction between all the stars and constellations and the host of heaven in general etc.,

that it is not fitting to honor them²⁶

— even though they are servants who serve before Him, blessed be He, and He placed them on high to govern the world — to a father and mother, whom we are commanded to honor,

to the extent that they are called partners with the Holy One, blessed be He,

("three partners in a person etc.")

:

All the stars etc. not only that they have no control and dominion G-d forbid from themselves,

but also that which through them the Holy One blessed be He leads the world and influences the world,

behold they have no choice at all to influence or not to influence,

or to influence thus or thus,

for the Holy One blessed be He is alone the one who influences through them,

like an axe in the hand of the one who hews with it&lt;sup&gt;27&lt;/sup&gt;

— therefore it is not fitting to accord them any honor;

But not so father and mother who are considered partners with the Holy One blessed be He in the creation of the human,

even though in truth also their part is from the Holy One blessed be He who is the one who brings into being and enlivens also the father and mother

(for like the earth that brings forth its vegetation through the power given to it from the Holy One blessed be He in the utterance "Let the earth sprout vegetation"&lt;sup&gt;28&lt;/sup&gt;,

so is the insemination of the man and his wife through the utterance "Be fruitful and multiply")

— nevertheless they are called partners with the Holy One blessed be He in the creation of the human,

for they have free will and in their hand to copulate or not to copulate,

and therefore they are obligated in their honor.

4.

And to note,

the matter of the idolatry of the generation of Enosh

(who thought that the stars etc. have free will to act and influence by the power of the Holy One, blessed be He)

is not merely an error,

that they erred in understanding the matters etc.,

but this very reasoning is in contradiction to the principles of faith,

and as the Rambam wrote in his Thirteen Principles²⁹

: "The fifth principle, that He, may He be exalted, is the One worthy of serving and magnifying and making known³⁰

His greatness and performing His commandments, and that one should not do so to anything that is beneath Him in existence, from the angels, stars, spheres, elements, and what is composed of them, because they are all compelled, and their actions have no judgment or free will, but only to Him alone, the blessed Holy One; and likewise it is not fitting to serve them in order for them to be intermediaries to bring one close to Him, but rather to Him alone should thoughts be directed, and one should abandon everything other than Him; and this is the fifth principle which warned against idolatry."

Nevertheless, this is not a contradiction to what the Tzemach Tzedek said, that honoring father and mother is because they have free will,

for the meaning of this is not that because they have free will they have control, heaven forbid, over the conduct of the world,

and in their hand is to give birth or not to give birth

(and likewise to do good or to do evil)

against the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, heaven forbid,

but it is only in the manner of "the wine belongs to the master, gratitude is due to the cupbearer"³¹,

for even though the "cupbearer" does not influence and give anything of his own, only that of the "master"

(the owner of the wine),

and even this very thing, that he serves the wine, is by the agency of the owner of the wine,

nevertheless,

since he is not compelled in this and his action is with his free choice,

therefore recognition of gratitude is due to him for this³².

And so in our matter,

since they chose to be agents of God to give birth to this son and to raise him and nurture him etc.,

therefore reward and honor are due to them for this choice.

And one should examine in the words of the Ramban mentioned above that &lt;pg&gt;94&lt;/pg&gt;

The matter of honoring father and mother is

(not gratitude for their choice but)

because the father "participates in his creation."

5.

And behold, regarding the matter of the power of procreation, our master the Alter Rebbe explains³³,

that since it is a power of the Infinite One

(and as above in section 2),

therefore it exists only in souls and not in angels,

for only in the souls of Israel exists the illumination of the Infinite One, blessed be He³⁴

(as they are "literally a part of God from above"³⁵,

to the extent that Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one³⁶),

therefore they have in them the power of the Infinite One in procreation,

but not so in angels etc.

And that which we find the power of procreation also in other creations,

and even in animals,

this is because "they are nourished from vegetation that grows from the earth"³⁷,

that in the earth "there is also the power of procreation" from the aspect of the power of the Infinite One that is in the dust of the earth

(for their beginning is specifically embedded in their end³⁸).

[And perhaps one could say

(regarding the power of procreation that is in the nations of the world),

according to what is explained elsewhere³⁹

that there are several matters in the human body whose cause is that they should correspond to their soul, which is literally a part of God from above

(like the form of the body, that the head is above,

which is because "you are called 'man'",

in the sense of "likeness to the One above"⁴⁰),

and nevertheless we find these matters also in the bodies of the nations of the world, in which there is no holy soul,

and it is explained regarding this that this is so that there should be the matter of choice in Israel,

for the matter of choice is possible only between two equal things,

therefore there must be equality between the bodies of Israel and the bodies of the nations of the world⁴¹

so that only then does the matter of choice apply specifically to Israel.

And similarly one could say also regarding the matter of the power of procreation that exists in the nations of the world].

And there is a fundamental difference between the power of procreation in Israel and this power in other creations:

In other creations, which do not have a holy soul,

the power of procreation,

which is a power of the Infinite One that is above creation,

is an additional thing beyond their very existence,

for although the Holy One, blessed be He, established this power in the nature of their bodies, it is in the manner of a surrounding power that is above their existence; but not so in Israel, for by virtue of the superiority of their soul, they have an illumination of the Infinite One,

this power is in a manner that it becomes unified with them,

and it is a part of their very existence.

And one can say,

that this is the depth of the intention of the Ramban on "Honor your father [is] the honor of God, because for the honor of the Creator He commanded to honor the father who participates in the creation",

that one should explain his intention,

that the creation of the offspring

(through the power of procreation)

is indeed only through the infinite power that is in the parents,

which is found in them only because the Holy One, blessed be He, placed a power of infinity in human nature,

and thus this is not honor of the father and mother from their own selves&lt;sup&gt;42&lt;/sup&gt;,

but only the honor of God,

the infinite power that is in them&lt;sup&gt;43&lt;/sup&gt;.

And this is also the necessity that from this matter in honoring father and mother,

that they participate with the Holy One, blessed be He, in his creation,

this is primarily a commandment between man and the Omnipresent

("the honor of God"),

and not the matter of between man and his fellow: if the honor that is obligated from the creation of the son is for the existence of the father and mother from their own selves,

because they are beings with free will&lt;pg&gt;95&lt;/pg&gt;

And by their choice and will they brought him into the world,

now then this is a contradiction to true faith in the unity of the Name,

that there is no other dominion besides the Holy One, blessed be He, in the conduct of creation — rather the matter of honor here is only from the aspect of the infinite power of the Holy One, blessed be He, that comes and is drawn forth in a manner of infinity and without limit in birth through father and mother.

For since the infinite power shines and unites with them,

therefore,

it is possible to say,

that the honor that they honor the father and mother

(from the aspect of the infinite power within them,

through which they were created)

is "the honor of God",

the category of "between man and the Omnipresent".

6.

And from all the above it follows,

that in honoring father and mother there are two categories and matters⁴⁴

:

a)

rational commandment,

and it is a matter between man and his fellow

(whether from the aspect of the matter of gratitude for all that his father and mother have bestowed upon him and his upbringing and education,

or the definition of repayment of a debt as it is brought in the Yerushalmi⁴⁵),

b)

the definition of between man and the Omnipresent,

since the father "partners in his creation" therefore honoring father and mother is "honor of God".

And it can be said,

that this itself is the reason that in the Ten Commandments the commandment of honoring parents was said in the first five commandments which are matters between man and the Omnipresent,

because the main innovation of the commandment of honoring parents is only in Israel,

and it is this matter that in honoring a father because he is a "partner in his creation",

but among the nations of the world only the first aspect of honoring applies&lt;sup&gt;46&lt;/sup&gt;

parents&lt;sup&gt;47&lt;/sup&gt;

(a rational commandment between man and his fellow&lt;sup&gt;48&lt;/sup&gt;).

For by a son of Noah,

since the power of procreation which is the power of the Infinite One that is above creation is an additional thing beyond their own existence,

therefore,

the part of the parents in the creation of the child and the part of the Holy One, blessed be He, are like two separate things,

and consequently,

their honoring from this aspect that they chose to be "agents" through whom the Holy One, blessed be He, creates this child — is not a detail in "honor of God",

and it is also only a category between man and his fellow;

And only in Israel is it applicable to say,

that the matter of honoring father and mother from the aspect of this matter that they are partners in his creation is primarily the category of between man and the Omnipresent,

since the power of the Infinite One who creates the offspring is found in the father and mother themselves,

and thus, what one honors them is itself the "honor of God."

(From the talk of Shabbat Parshat Bereishit

(the gathering of the second)

of the year 5751)