The beginning of Parshas Kedoshim contains a pasuk which presents a very interesting juxtaposition of mitzvos: “Every man shall revere his mother and his father and you shall observe My Shabbos – I am Hashem your G-d.” (Vayikra 19:3). Rashi wonders about the connection between Shabbos observance and revering one’s parents. Rashi cites the Toras Kohanim which teaches, based on the juxtaposition in this pasuk: “Although I enjoined you about revering a parent, if your parent should say to you, ‘Desecrate the Shabbos’, do not listen to them. And so too it is with regard to other commandments.” This is a halachic principle brought down several times in the Gemara, which is also codified in the Shulchan Aruch.
Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky adds that the Torah is teaching us another message here as well. We believe as Jews that Hashem created the world in six days and that on the seventh day He rested. Prior to Creation the world did not exist and obviously people did not exist. This “Creation scenario” is not universally accepted. There are many people who in fact deny any role of Hashem in creation. The Darwinian Theory and others posit that human beings evolved from lower species and reject the “story of Creation” as spelled out in the beginning of the Book of Bereishis. This is a philosophical-theological dispute of how one views the world.
There is a practical difference between these two world views. The difference boils down to who needs to honor whom? Should older people need to honor younger people or should younger people need to honor older people? If one believes that man has evolved from the lower forms of life, then presumably the further one gets away from that “original man” the higher form of life one would expect. If man evolved from a monkey, then the first generations of men were not very far removed from monkeys. Later generations have “evolved more” than earlier ones and hence the earlier generations must honor the later ones. The bottom line is that parents should honor their children. If on the other hand, — as we believe — the Ribbono Shel Olam created the First Man, it follows that the First Man was the most perfect human being that the world has ever seen. He was without flaws because he was the handiwork of the Ribbono Shel Olam Himself. No one can improve upon that! As we get further away from that First Man, man diminishes in stature. If we are going down, rather than up, it is clear that the younger generations need to honor the previous generations.
With this introduction, the pasuk now is crystal clear. “A man shall revere his mother and his father.” Why? It is because “My Shabbos you shall keep – I am Hashem your G-d.” There is a link between these two parts of the pasuk. Since there was a Creation – which you testify to by observance of Shabbos on the seventh day of the week, then parents who are a generation closer to creation and to the original man who was created by the Ribbono Shel Olam need to be revered by the younger generation!
This insight of Rav Yaakov comes with a story as well. In his later years, Rav Yaakov attended a Kenesiah Gedolah of Agudas Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel. He was already an older man at the time and was accompanied on his travels by one of his sons. As we all know, the trip to Eretz Yisroel is a long trip and Rav Yaakov was an older man. His son waited on him hand and foot throughout the journey. There was a person on the plane sitting nearby who was astounded by the love, respect, and dedication the son was showing to his father. At one point, he commented to Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, “My children do not treat me like that. What is your secret in child-raising that your son treats you like a King?”
In effect, Rav Yaakov told him the above quoted idea. We implant in our children the belief that the further we are removed from Sinai, the more one has had to endure the phenomenon of “yeridas hadoros” [lessening of the generations]. Therefore, they understand that the older generation is a “better generation” and hence they honor and respect us. “If your children do not act this way”, Rav Yaakov told the gentleman on the plane, “perhaps it is because they feel that they are more advanced than you are and that on the contrary, you should honor them.”
R’ Yaakov then brings something he heard from R’ Elchonon Wasserman. R’ Elchonon said, if Darwin would have seen the Chofetz Chaim, he would never have entertained the possibility that man came from a monkey. It’s only because Darwin associated with people like himself, that he was able to entertain such a possibility. (R’ Frand)
