ת"ר איזהו מורא ואיזהו כיבוד מורא לא עומד במקומו ולא יושב במקומו ולא סותר את דבריו ולא מכריעו כיבוד מאכיל ומשקה מלביש ומכסה מכניס ומוציא
Our Rabbis taught: He must honour him in life and must honour him in death.' In life', e.g. , one who is heeded in a place on account of his father should not say: 'Let me go, for my own sake', 'Speed me, for my own sake', or 'Free me, for my own sake', but all 'for my father's sake.' 'In death', e.g. , if one is reporting something heard from his mouth, he should not say: 'Thus did my father say', but, 'Thus said my father, my teacher, for whose resting place may I be an atonement.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [May I make atonement for all the punishment in the Hereafter that may have to come upon him. (Rashi) .]');"><sup>14</sup></span>
Tosefta Megillah
[Continuing on the theme of respect for elders,] what is the "rising" (kimah) of which the Torah spoke (Lev. 19:32), "Before the elderly you shall 'rise' (takum)"? [It means that one should] rise before [the elderly who are] within four amot. What is the "deference" (ha'dor) of which the Torah spoke (ibid.), "...and show 'deference' (v'hadarta) before the aged ones"? [It means that one does] not stand in his place (i.e., the place where the aged one normally stands), and does not speak in his place, and does not contradict his words. [Rather,] treat him with reverence and fear, whether in business dealings, when you enter [a place], and when you leave [a place]. And they take precedence over every person, as it is says (Deut. 1:15), "And I appointed them (i.e., wise and knowledgeable men) as leaders over you." § [Related to matters of respect,] one who goes out to war should dig a hole [to defecate in], and turn one's back, and cover it up, as it says (Deut. 23:14), "and you shall dig with it (i.e., with a spade), and you shall turn your back [to defecate], etc." One who relieves himself (="המסיך את רגליו", see Judges 3:24) faces the people, and one who urinates does so with his back to the Holy. Said Rabbi Yosei, to what case does this refer? From [Mount] Scopus and closer [to the Temple], but from [Mount] Scopus and further, there is no need.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
