<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><font size="4" class="">It was brought to my attention that I hadn’t sent out a commentary on Parashas Kedoshim.<br class="">Here is a belated d’var.<br class=""><br class="">“In the presence of an old person you shall rise and you shall honor the presence of a sage<br class="">and you shall revere your God — I am Hashem.” (Vayikra 19:32)<br class=""><br class="">This verse is so rich with interpretation. According to Rashi, following one view in Kidudushin 32b,<br class="">the two halves of the pasuk explain each other, i.e., the mitzvah is to rise and honor a sage who is<br class="">both elderly and learned. Others hold that these are two separate mitzvot: to rise for anyone over<br class="">the age of 70 and to rise for a learned righteous man, even if he is below the age of 70. The<br class="">halacha follows the latter view, the rationale being that anyone can reach the age of 70 but it <br class="">takes blood, sweat and tears to achieve scholarship and righteousness. I recall as a youngster<br class="">being in awe when everyone in the beis medrash would stop what they were doing and a hush <br class="">fell over the crowd as everyone rose immediately as soon as the Rosh Yeshiva entered the hall.<br class=""><br class="">There comes to mind the famous saying in Makkoth 22b: “How foolish are those people who stand<br class="">up when the Torah is carried by, but do not stand up when a scholar walks by,” indicating that greater<br class="">than a piece of parchment upon which the Torah is written, is a human being who has put his whole<br class="">life into learning and struggling in order to acquire a knowledge of Torah, and who in his personal life<br class="">is a living embodiment of what the Torah teaches and represents.<br class=""><br class="">Along similar lines is the custom in some hassidic circles to kiss the hand of a talmid chochom upon<br class="">first seeing him in the same manner as kissing the Torah when it passes by. The one thing we must<br class="">never forget is the basic issue involved. It is not the mere person that is the center of the commandment;<br class="">it is the “v’yorayso mey-Elohechoh, Ani HaShem that is here involved. In rising before and granting <br class="">honor to the talmid chochom, we affirm our profound belief in the Torah of God.</font><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Who sows virtue reaps honor.<br class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">Leonardo da Vinci</span></div></body></html>