"Honor your father and your mother"

550. "Honor your father and your mother" (Shemot 20:12). HONOR THEM with respect, and gladden them with good deeds, as it is written, "The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice" (Mishlei 23:24), for this is the way one should honor his father and mother.

551. Ra'aya Meheimna (the Faithful Shepherd). "Honor your father and your mother." Honor THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, WHICH IS CALLED "YOUR FATHER," AND MALCHUT WHICH IS CALLED "YOUR MOTHER," by a clean fringed garment, MEANING, A NICE PRAYING SHAWL (HEB. TALIT) WHICH IS CALLED 'AN ARTICLE FOR FULFILLING A COMMANDMENT.' "Honor Hashem with your substance" (Mishlei 2:8), meaning, by studying the Torah and fulfilling the commandments, as it is written, "Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honor" (Mishlei 3:15). A man is considered poor when he does not study the Torah or fulfill the commandments. It is known, since it has been explained by the sages of the Mishnah, that poverty is the lack of the Torah and the precepts, which are a man's wealth.

552. Therefore, "Honor Hashem with your substance," and do not study the Torah in order to magnify yourself. As the students of the Torah said, Do not make them into a wreath, wherewith to magnify yourself. And do not say: I will study the Torah so I will be called "Rabbi," but rather, "O magnify Hashem with me" (Tehilim 34:4). "Honor Hashem with your substance," as a child must honor his father and mother.

553. A man is created from two drops of seed. From his father's sperm the bones of the body and the whiteness of the eyes ARE CREATED, and from his mother's the blackness of the eyes, the skin and the flesh ARE CREATED. And both of them raise the child to learn the Torah and good deeds.

554. A man should teach his son Torah, as it is written, "And you shall teach them diligently to your children" (Devarim 6:7), otherwise he is as if he makes him idols. Therefore, it is written, "You shall not make for yourself any carved idol" (Shemot 20:4). The ignorant son is destined to be an unruly child who treats his father and mother with contempt and robs them of many blessings. For since he is ignorant, he is suspected to transgress in everything, even idolatry, incest and bloodshed. For when the ignorant goes where he is not known and does not know how to say a benediction, he is believed to be an idol worshipper. End of Ra'aya Meheimna (the Faithful Shepherd).

555. "Honor your father" MEANS the same as "Honor Hashem with your substance." "...Your substance..." means your money. And "your substance" means your grace, MEANING, with a joyful tune, for then the heart is gladdened as when any melody is sounded. The son's good deeds gladden the hearts of his father and mother. Thus, "with your substance," means with your money, for anything necessary.

556. As a man honors the Holy One, blessed be He, so should he HONOR his father and mother, for they are in partnership over him with the Holy One, blessed be He. FOR THERE ARE THREE PARTNERS IN CREATING MAN, THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, THE FATHER, AND MOTHER. HIS FATHER AND MOTHER GIVE HIM THE BODY, AND THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, GIVES HIM THE SOUL. As a man should have great fear of the Holy One, blessed be He, so should he respect his father and mother, and honor them by all the means he has.

557. "...That your days may be long..." (Shemot 20:12); For there are days above - NAMELY, THE SEVEN SFIROT: CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD, YESOD AND MALCHUT - on which a man's life in this world depends. We have explained that these are man's days in that world above, THE SEVEN SFIROT, which are placed before the Holy One, blessed be He. And by them man's life is known.

558. "...In the land which Hashem your Elohim gives you..." (Ibid.); this is a promise given to enjoy the shining mirror. "...In the land..." is the mirror which shines upon the supernal days - CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD, YESOD AND MALCHUT OF ZEIR ANPIN - and which shines from the fount of everything, WHICH IS BINAH.

559. HE ASKS, What is the difference between the two commandments of the Torah, of which it is written, "that your days may be long," this one and the other which refers to driving away the mother-bird from the nest? HE ANSWERS, Both of the commandments refer to the world above. Aba and Ima are the secret of "remember" and "keep" in one, BEING ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT. Therefore, it is written, "that your days may be long." In regards to letting the mother-bird go from the nest, it is written, "But you shall surely let the mother go, and take the young to you; that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days" (Devarim 22:7). This is the secret of the supernal world, WHICH IS BINAH BEING CALLED 'MOTHER,' MEANING that no permission is given to look at her, and one should steer away from asking any questions or looking at her.

560. "...And take the young to you..." HERE, "THE YOUNG" ARE ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT, as it is written, "For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you since the day that Elohim created man upon the earth and from the one side of heaven to the other" (Devarim 4:32) - MEANING THAT ONE CAN ASK A QUESTION OF AND LOOK AT HEAVEN, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN CALLED 'HEAVEN,' WHICH CAN BE INVESTIGATED AND OBSERVED. But above the heaven, ZEIR ANPIN, you not should let your thoughts investigate.

561. Therefore, it is written, "That it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days." It says, "That it may be well with you," in the third person. It is not written, 'that your days may be long,' but rather, "that you may prolong your days." "...It may be well with you..." refers to the place from which goodness issues for everyone, and this is the hidden and unrevealed world, BINAH. "...That you may prolong your days..." meaning, BY YOUR OWN STRENGTH, as it is written, "and take the young to you," for one is capable OF CLINGING TO THE CHILDREN, WHICH ARE ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT. FOR THROUGH THEM ONE HAS A LENGTH OF DAYS.

562. If one has the opportunity to perform A PRECEPT and he does so attentively, then he is considered as a righteous man. And even if this is not his intention, he is still considered righteous because he fulfills the commandment of his Master - FOR PERFORMING A PRECEPT DOES NOT REQUIRE AN INTENTION. Yet he who does not understand the reason is not considered as he who directs his will for the sake of doing it and meditates upon it, with the wish to behold the glory of his Master. This is because an intentional deed depends upon the wish. Such a deed below arouses a corresponding act above, WHICH IS MALCHUT, CALLED 'AN ACT,' and is properly rectified.

563. As in a physical action, an act of the soul is also manifested through that intention, for the Holy One, blessed be He, desires the heart and intention of man. Concerning a person who does not fulfill the commandment with his heart, which is the most essential quality, David prayed, "And establish the work of our hands upon us; O prosper it, the work of our hands" (Tehilim 90:17), for not everyone has the capability to be mindful and to direct his heart, to correct everything, and perform a precept. He therefore said this prayer, "and establish the work of our hands upon us."

564. HE ASKS FOR THE MEANING OF: "and establish the work of our hands upon us," AND HE ANSWERS THAT "establish" MEANS accomplish your establishment properly above. . "...Upon us..." although we know only how to act, but not how to direct the right intentions of the heart. "O prosper it, the work of our hands." HE ASKS, Prosper whom? AND ANSWERS, The grade that needs establishing, NAMELY MALCHUT. It must prosper so that it can be united with the fathers - WHICH ARE CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET OF ZEIR ANPIN - and in whom it will be properly established, through this deed.