Pe'ah 004

אֵלּוּ דְבָרִים שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם שִׁעוּר: הַפֵּאָה, וְהַבִּכּוּרִים, וְהָרֵאָיוֹן, וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים, וְתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה. אֵלּוּ דְבָרִים שֶׁאָדָם אוֹכֵל פֵּרוֹתֵיהֶן בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה וְהַקֶּרֶן קַיֶּמֶת לוֹ לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא: כִּבּוּד אָב וָאֵם, וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים, וַהֲבָאַת שָׁלוֹם בֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ; וְתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה כְּנֶגֶד כֻּלָּם:

15:
Let us conclude our review of the relative value of Torah study and 'real life' with a well-known quotation from Rambam [Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Talmud Torah 3:10]:

Anyone who decides to study Torah [exclusively] - not to engage in a trade but to live off charity - is desecrating God's name, bringing the Torah into disrepute, quenching the brightness of the faith, doing himself a disservice and denying himself the life to come. [This is] because it is forbidden to derive any material benefit from the Torah in this world. The sages said that anybody who derives material benefit from Torah is removing himself from this life. They also instructed that one should 'not make it [the Torah] a crown with which to glorify oneself nor a spade with which to dig'. They also instructed us 'to love your profession and to hate being in a position of authority ... Any Torah[-study] which is not accompanied by earning a living in the end will be void and simply encourage sin'. Ultimately such a person will be robbing the public.

16:
However, Rambam's rather idealistic (and perhaps rather aristocratic) view is vitiated by another view which derives from an aggadic midrash [Bamidbar Rabba 13:16]. (For an explanation of the terms connected with Midrash please see the 'Brief Introduction' in our archives. This midrash is concerned with the imagined relationship between the two tribes of Zebulun and Issachar. Zebulun, a sea-faring tribe [Genesis 49:13] chose to support the tribe of Issachar so that the latter could devote itself entirely to the study of Torah.

This midrash in some quarters became the prime ideal according to which even the stern requirement of Rambam can be set aside. I hope that it is obvious that Rambam's halakhic determination seems to be more attuned to the ethos of Conservative Judaism: Torah study should be 'lishmah' (for its own sake) and one should not set out to derive material benefit - money, position, influence etc - from one's study of Torah or the knowledge gained from that study.

17: I translated the Hebrew term "Kibbud Av va-em" as loving one's parents. I am well aware that the usual translation for this term is to honour one's parents, however I feel justified in my translation. (Everything I write here is based on the assumption that one's parents are decent people and good parents.) My translation was made only after careful consideration. A few words of introduction first. I once read a piece where the rabbi-author noted that the mitzvot of the Torah are addressed to various categories of people, including young children, and he duly noted "Honour thy father and thy mother". We must note here a basic common error: No mitzvot at all are addressed to minors, and the mitzvot concerning child/parent relationships are all addressed to us adults with living parents.

18:
The discussion in the Gemara (of Eretz-Israel) [Pe'ah 3b] notes that there are two basic commands that devolve upon offspring as regards their parents: "kibbud" and "mora". One of these may be translated as "love" and one as "honour". Elsewhere, the Gemara [Kiddushin 31b] gives the following behaviour-patterns as evincing "mora": "not standing in [the parent's] special place, not sitting in his special chair, not correcting him, not contradicting him". Later on many others are given but these will suffice for our present purposes. The Gemara then gives the following behaviour-patterns as evincing "kibbud": "providing him with food and drink, with clothing and housing, assisting him to get about".

19:
It seems to me that the former patterns are what we would refer to as "respect" or "honour", while the latter are expressions of "love". It therefore seems to me more appropriate to translate the Torah command in Exodus 20:12 as "Love your father and mother". The command in Leviticus 19:3 should be translated as "Each person must respect [or honour] his mother and father". There are many such "love"-commands in the Torah - love God, love the stranger, love your neighbour etc. In all cases the rabbis note that the Torah is not commanding emotion but behaviour: behave towards them with those behaviour patterns that are usually perceived as being motivated by feelings of love - seeking their good, helping, cosseting and so forth.

20:
The Gemara [Pe'ah 3b] brings several examples of such love of parents which we might consider as exaggerated in the extreme. Here is one of them offered as food for thought for those who have aged parents who are incapacitated in some way or another: