Commentary for Kiddushin 61:15

As she persuades him (meshadalto): She entices him; as we translate (Onkelos on Exodus 22:15), "And if a man entices," as Arei yeshadal.

"And the earth is My footstool": So one who transgresses in private is saying the Omnipresent is not here. Hence he is hidden, saying, "He does not know." It comes out that it is as though he is pushing away His feet and shortening Him, saying, "[He is] not here."

Anyone who transgresses in private is as though he is pushing away the feet of the Divine Presence: That is when he is capable of overcoming his inclination, and as it is shown in the first chapter of Chagigah (16a).

"The entire world is full": It implies that He extends and descends below. So one who stands with an upright posture appears as [if he] is pushing [God] away.

He said this to him: Rabbi Yehoshua answered him in the [same] way that Rabbi Eliezer answered him.

[If] she is divorced: Such that my mother is not obligated to honor my father. [If so], what is [the law]?

From your eyelashes: [These are] the hairs in the rows of eyelids. It is evident that you were orphaned, so your eyelashes fell out due to the crying. As it as we say [in Sanhedrin] (104b), "And Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel heard her voice and cried with her until his eyelashes fell out.

That you are the son of a widow And that you do not need [my answer] in practice. Rather you have come to learn, and I tell you that the honor of both of them is the same upon you.

Pour water for them into a pitcher and squawk: Crow to them, as we crow to chickens. And since he did not need to do [this in practice], but he asked him as if he had to do [it] - "my mother and father said" - [Rabbi Yehoshua] answered him with a jocular expression.

They returned and conceded about the first statements: All the more so is one obligated in His honor. For, like his father and his mother, He too is a partner in one's creation; and his life and death are given over to His hands.

"Honor the Lord with your wealth": In the Yerushalmi, "with your wealth (mehoncha)," is expounded as, "with what is graced to you (mechoncha)." This implies that the Holy One, blessed be He, was more exacting about the honor of father and mother than His [own] honor. For with His honor, He said, "Honor the Lord with your wealth," which is from what is graced to you. So it implies, from what He graced you with - meaning if one has money, he is obligated; but if not, he is exempt. But with the honor of father and mother, it is stated, "Honor your father and your mother"; so it implies whether he has money or whether he does not have [it]. And when he does not have, he is obligated to [knock on] doors to feed his father and his mother.

"The beginning of Your word is truth": Scripture was not required to say, "The beginning of Your word is truth," except because they were speaking ill about His first statements, saying He is warning about His [own] honor; but afterwards when they heard the end of His words, they returned and conceded - they learned that the beginning of His words were true.

For six hundred thousand profit: He would have made a profit of six hundred thousand gold dinars.

But the key was placed under his father’s head: In the Yerushalmi, it is found that his legs were stretched over the container, and that is why he did not break it.

Under his father’s head: And he was sleeping.

And if this is [related about] one who is not commanded, and he performs it: [That] the Holy One, blessed be He, paid him his reward.

Once he was wearing: Dama ben Netina.

And his mother came and tore it: It is found in the Midrash that she was mentally insane.

A sirkon: A cloak called a cendre (cender - a type of silk).

Pheasant: A prized and fatty bird. A type of quail (slav) that fell in the wilderness.

There is a son who feeds his father pheasant: The explanation - a prized bird. And it is a type of quail (slav) that is in the wilderness.

Causes him to be removed from the world: As he will be punished about him, since he showed him stinginess about his meal.

Causes him to be removed from the world: The explantion - as he will be punished about him, since he showed him stinginess about his meal. And there is [one] who makes him grind with a millstone - which is hard work - and brings him to the life of the World-to-Come: As he honors him by speaking good and consoling words to him. And the text in the Yerushalmi Gemara (Jerusalem Talmud Peah 1) has a story about both of them: The story of the one who feeds his father pheasant is [that] one day, his father said to him, "From where do you get all these?" He said to him, "Old man, what do you care, grind and eat" - meaning, chew and eat - "like dogs that are carefree and eat!" If so, he showed him that it was difficult for him. And also a story about the one who grinds with a millstone [is that] he had an old father and the king sent a requisition for mill grinders - meaning a command of the king for his father to come to [do] the king's work. His son said to him, "Father, grind; and I will go in your place to the king's work which has no limit. If it is for your disgrace, it will better for you; if it is for your lashes, it will be better for you."

And there is [one] who makes him grind with a millstone: Which is hard work.

This one hits home hard. Definitely written by a parent well-versed in eliciting guilt.

This one hits home hard. Definitely written by a parent well-versed in eliciting guilt.

Since the previous source imagined God dwelling among human beings, these sources continue to discuss the ramifications of God actually living on earth. The first ramification is that God is everywhere—one cannot hide from God. Sinning in secret is akin to making the theological statement that God is not in a certain place. I should note that there are sources that contradict this and seem to say that sinning in secret is preferable to sinning in public.
The second two statements deal with the proper posture and clothing to acknowledge that God is only slightly above one’s head. This last statement is one of the sources used to prove that Jews must keep their heads covered.

Since the previous source imagined God dwelling among human beings, these sources continue to discuss the ramifications of God actually living on earth. The first ramification is that God is everywhere—one cannot hide from God. Sinning in secret is akin to making the theological statement that God is not in a certain place. I should note that there are sources that contradict this and seem to say that sinning in secret is preferable to sinning in public.
The second two statements deal with the proper posture and clothing to acknowledge that God is only slightly above one’s head. This last statement is one of the sources used to prove that Jews must keep their heads covered.

My wife (and mother, and pretty much every other woman I know) would not be too pleased with the rule from this source.
But in the end, R. Joshua does rule that if the woman is divorced then the son owes them equal honor. If they’re both hollering for water, then all one can do is put the water on the floor screech at them as one does to chickens!

My wife (and mother, and pretty much every other woman I know) would not be too pleased with the rule from this source.
But in the end, R. Joshua does rule that if the woman is divorced then the son owes them equal honor. If they’re both hollering for water, then all one can do is put the water on the floor screech at them as one does to chickens!

The fact that God demands that children honor their parents is proof that God is not interested only in God’s own honor.

The fact that God demands that children honor their parents is proof that God is not interested only in God’s own honor.

Interestingly, the greatest example of honoring one’s parents is brought from a non-Jew, the famous Dama ben Netinah (rhymes with an old favorite, Funky Cold Medina). Dama did not wake up his Dad, even though this would have profited him 600,000 gold dinars. I have told me children that if someone comes by to our house and offers a deal that will make me the equivalent of millions of dollars, I’m okay with being woken up.

This is a slightly different version of the story. Here the sages need a precious stone for the High Priest’s breastplate. And at the end Dama ben Natinah receives his reward—a red heifer is born into his herd. But being such a generous guy, he only (!) asks for the 600,000 dinars he lost when not waking up his father.

According to R. Hanina, a person who fulfills a commandment even out of obligation is greater than one who fulfills it not out of obligation. This, I think, is somewhat counterintuitive. Most of us think that when we do something because we want to, we are in some way better than those who fulfill it because they have to. That is, I think, R. Hanina’s point. Fulfilling commandments out of a sense of obligation shows a commitment not just to the particular deed, but to its source.

R. Joseph is blind. There is a tannaitic dispute over whether blind people are obligated in commandments. R. Judah holds they are exempt and the other sages hold that they are not. So at first, R. Joseph wishes the halakhah would follow R. Judah so that he could be fulfilling the commandments even though he’s not obligated. But then when he hears R. Hanina’s statement, he wants the halakhah to follow the sages who make blind people obligated.
I do love the image of the R. Joseph making a holiday for the rabbis. I can picture a big spread on the table with lots of food.

This is the first description of how someone honors one’s mother. Interestingly, while fathers are always described as sleeping, mothers are usually portrayed as somewhat disturbed. Honoring one’s father means not waking him up, honoring one’s mother means tolerating her embarrassing behavior.

This tradition is found more elaborated in the Yerushalmi, and it is basically impossible to understand the Bavli without the Yerushalmi. There we read:
There is one who feeds his father fatted birds and inherits Gehenom and one who ties his father to a mill and inherits heaven.
How is it that one can feed his father fatted birds and inherit Gehenom? There once was a man who fed his father fatted birds. Once, his father said to him, “Son, where did you get this?” He said back, “Old man, eat and shut up like a dog.” It turns out that while he feeds his father fatted birds, he still inherits Gehenom.
How is it that one can tie his father to a mill and still inherit heaven? There once was a man who was a wheat-grinder. A command came from the king to the grinder. The son said to his father, “Father, grind in my place so that if they come to disgrace or beat (one of us) better they should disgrace or beat me and not you.” [The king would first take those who were not working]. It turns out that he ties his father to the mill, and still inherits heaven.
We should note that it in all of these sources the parallel in the Yerushalmi is usually easier to understand. It seems that the Bavli inherited its sources in some sort of truncated form.