What does honor look like? Is it the pomp and circumstance we witnessed at the last inauguration of the American president? Is it the nice things people say about the honorees at your local school or shul dinner? Is it the way you’re treated if you can afford to fly first class? In a society in which nothing is sacrosanct and honor can be bought for a price it is no wonder that we have some confusion over the definition of kavod (honor).
Even our Torah sources need to be illuminated if we are to grasp the role of kavod in our lives and relationships. We learn that if you chase kavod it runs away from you. Conversely if you run away from kavod it will chase you. Should we be running towards or running away? Do we want to be caught or not?
We learn in Pirkei Avos (4:28) that jealousy physical desire and honor remove a person from the world. That makes honor seem like something we would want to stay away from. At the same time the Navi (Yeshayahu 43:7) tells us that everything that the One Above created was created for His kavod. That certainly sounds positive. Let’s try to understand the concept of kvod Shamayim honor of Heaven as a key to clarifying the above-mentioned sources.
Our Creator created a world in which His presence is hidden. Through our actions we attempt to demonstrate that He is always here that what is hidden not only exists but also constitutes the true reality. Kavod then reveals what is hidden beneath the surface and allows us to respond to the inner truer dimension of existence. Finding that inner dimension in each aspect of Creation and in every interaction with another person is the way we indicate kvod Shamayim.
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