[Avodah] Kedoshim

[Cantor Wolberg via Avodah]

It was brought to my attention that I hadn’t sent out a commentary on Parashas Kedoshim.
Here is a belated d’var.

“In the presence of an old person you shall rise and you shall honor the presence of a sage
and you shall revere your God — I am Hashem.”  (Vayikra 19:32)

This verse is so rich with interpretation. According to Rashi, following one view in Kidudushin 32b,
the two halves of the pasuk explain each other, i.e., the mitzvah is to rise and honor a sage who is
both elderly and learned. Others hold that these are two separate mitzvot: to rise for anyone over
the age of 70 and to rise for a learned righteous man, even if he is below the age of 70. The
halacha follows the latter view, the rationale being that anyone can reach the age of 70 but it 
takes blood, sweat and tears to achieve scholarship and righteousness. I recall as a youngster
being in awe when everyone in the beis medrash would stop what they were doing and a hush  
fell over the crowd as everyone rose immediately as soon as the Rosh Yeshiva entered the hall.

There comes to mind the famous saying in Makkoth 22b: “How foolish are those people who stand
up when the Torah is carried by, but do not stand up when a scholar walks by,” indicating that greater
than a piece of parchment upon which the Torah is written, is a human being who has put his whole
life into learning and struggling in order to acquire a knowledge of Torah, and who in his personal life
is a living embodiment of what the Torah teaches and represents.

Along similar lines is the custom in some hassidic circles to kiss the hand of a talmid chochom upon
first seeing him in the same manner as kissing the Torah when it passes by. The one thing we must
never forget is the basic issue involved. It is not the mere person that is the center of the commandment;
it is the “v’yorayso mey-Elohechoh, Ani HaShem that is here involved. In rising before and granting 
honor to the talmid chochom, we affirm our profound belief in the Torah of God.

Who sows virtue reaps honor.
Leonardo da Vinci
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