Parshat Achrei Mot – Kedoshim: Respect for your Elders
by Rabbi Lobel

The Torah commands us to respect our elders. “Rise in the presence of the old and honor the elder, and you will fear G-d.” (Leviticus 19:32)

And you will fear G-d? How does respecting our elders lead us to the fear of heaven?

To answer that, we first have to understand the nature of the mitzvah itself.

According to the Sefer Hachinuch (Rabbi Aaron Halevi of Barcelona 1235 – 1290; Chapter 257, based upon Unkelos 35 CE–110 CE), the “old” is one who has acquired wisdom through years of experience and the “elder” is one who has acquired wisdom through study.

The simple answer is that by respecting our elders, by standing when they enter a room, by treating them with the honor and dignity we would give any important person, we will ultimately come to respect who they are and what they represent.

As the Sefer Hachinuch explains, the purpose of humanity and the reason for each individual's creation is for each of us to constantly develop our understanding and recognition of G-d's control of the world. The “old” (experienced) and the “elder” (wise), have learned G-d's ways, whether through personal experience or through study. They recognize how vast is the world, how awesome G-d is to create and manage such a universe, and, yet, this world has nothing to offer compared to the importance of being a good person and observing the Torah. Furthermore, the old and the elder have both learned humility – although a person can achieve much with the assistance of G-d, the world doesn't need any of us.

Humility, the recognition of our place in the world and our absolute dependence on G-d is at the very core of “fear of heaven”.

The Sefer Hachinuch tells us that when people witness how we honor our elders, they will become inspired to emulate our elders and their outlook of life and the world. If honoring our elders can have such an impact on people who merely witness it from afar, imagine the effect on the person who's actually doing the honoring.  And as we honor our elders, as we learn from their experience and knowledge, we, too, will discover our place in the world, just as they did. And we will come to fear G-d.