Ilustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
Hazal notice that, in a few places, the Torah uses the same language to refer to parents and to God. One of the examples comes from our parashah:
נֶאֱמַר: ״אִישׁ אִמּוֹ וְאָבִיו תִּירָאוּ״ (ויקרא יט:ג)
וְנֶאֱמַר: ״אֶת ה׳ אֱלֹקֶיךָ תִּירָא וְאֹתוֹ תַעֲבֹד״ (דברים ו:יג).
הִשְׁוָה הַכָּתוּב מוֹרָאַת אָב וָאֵם לְמוֹרָאַת הַמָּקוֹם.
The Torah says: “You shall fear your mother and your father” (Vayikra 19:3).
And the Torah says: “Fear God your Lord; worship God alone” (Devarim 6:13).
The Torah compares fearing parents to fearing God.
- What does the Torah mean when it commands a person to fear their parents? What does that involve?
- What does the Torah mean when it commands a person to fear God? How do you show or experience that?
- Why do Hazal connect these two kinds of fear? How are they similar?
The Talmud goes on to explain that the Torah uses the same language for parents and God because there is a deep connection between them:
וְכֵן בְּדִין, שֶׁשְּׁלָשְׁתָּן שׁוּתָּפִין בּוֹ. תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: שְׁלֹשָׁה שׁוּתָּפִין הֵן בָּאָדָם: הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וְאָבִיו, וְאִמּוֹ.
It makes sense because these three are partners in a child. Our Rabbis taught: Every person's body is created through a three-way partnership: a father, a mother, and God.
- How are parents and God partners in creation? Can there be more than one way to partner with God in creating a person? How?
- Does this teaching make you think differently about your birth or upbringing?
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