Kavod HaBriyos / Honoring All Creatures

(c) Dovid Sears

Selections from the first chapters of Compassion for Humanity with additional material newly translated for this posting.

Ben Zoma used to say: Who is wise? One who learns from all people … Who is honored? One who honors all people (Mishnah: Avos 4:1).

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[Ben Azzai] used to say: Do not regard anyone with contempt, and do not reject anything, for there is no person who does not have his hour and nothing that does not have its place (Mishnah: Avos 4:3).

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[Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosa] used to say: Whoever is pleasing to his fellow creatures is pleasing to God; but whoever is displeasing to his fellow creatures, God is not pleased with him (Mishnah: Avos 3:10).

Commentary: The Mishnah uses the term “fellow creatures,” not members of one’s own nation, in order to include all humanity and all creatures, whether of one’s own nation or another, whether an individual or a group. Our rabbis have clearly stated that there is no difference in this regard between Jews and non-Jews (Rabbi Pinchas Eliyahu Horowitz of Vilna, Sefer HaBris II, 13:6).

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One should always be pleasant to all human beings, hastening to offer them greetings and seeking their honor and benefit to the best of one’s ability. This will cause one to be beloved by others, and inspire them to honor the Torah and its precepts (Rabbi Menachem Meiri, Beis HaBechirah on Berakhos 6b).

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[One should] respect all creatures, recognizing in them the greatness of the Creator who formed man with wisdom, and whose wisdom is contained in all creatures. He should realize that they greatly deserve to be honored, since the Former of All Things, the Wise One who is exalted above all, cared to create them. If one despises them, God forbid, it reflects upon the honor of their Creator.

This may be likened to an expert goldsmith who fashions a vessel with great skill, but when he displays his work, someone begins to mock and scorn it. How angry that goldsmith will be; for by disparaging his handiwork, one disparages his wisdom. Similarly, it is evil in the sight of the Holy One, blessed be He, if any of His creatures is despised.

This is the meaning of the verse, “How many are your works, O Lord” (Psalms 104:24). The Psalmist did not say “how vast” but “how many (rav).” [The Hebrew word rav also denotes importance,] as in the phrase “rav beiso” (Esther 1:8), meaning “of high status.” Since you imbued them all with your wisdom, Your works are important and great, and it befits one to contemplate the wisdom in them and not disparage them (Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Tomer Devorah, chap. 2).

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Divine Wisdom gives life to all things, as it is written, “Wisdom gives life to all who possess it” (Ecclesiastes 7:12). Thus, one should instruct the entire world in the ways of life, helping others to attain life in this world and in the World to Come, and providing them with the means of life. As a matter of principle, one should give life to all beings (Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Tomer Devorah, chap. 3).

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Love of all creatures is also love of God. For whoever loves the One, loves the works He has made. When one loves God, it is impossible not to love His creatures. [And the converse is true:] If one hates the creatures, it is impossible to love God (Maharal of Prague, Nesivos Olam, “Ahavas Rei’a,” 1).

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All of the commandments between one person and another are included in the precept of loving one’s neighbor (Rabbi Pinchas Eliyahu Horowitz of Vilna, Sefer HaBris II, 13:31).

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The root of the obligation to be considerate is our obligation to a person because he is a person (Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler, Michtav me-Eliyahu, Vol. IV, p. 246).

New quotes:

If a person inflicts pain on another, it is as though he inflicts pain on the entire world because [man is a small-scale universe]. Everything that exists in the universe is present in man (Avos de-Rabbi Noson 31) (Rabbi Yehudah HeChasid, Sefer Chasidim 44 (300 in English edition); trans. Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Finkel).

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A person who studies the Torah’s laws regarding infectious skin rashes should not spit out in disgust, since this would mean “showing contempt for God’s word” (Numbers 15:31). If he sees people afflicted with skin diseases, he should not demonstrate his loathing, because health and sickness are in the hands of the Creator, and all men are God’s creatures (Rabbi Yehudah HeChasid, Sefer Chasidim 636 (310 in English edition); trans. Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Finkel).

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Human dignity (kavod ha-briyos) is important enough to overrride a negative commandment of the Torah (Talmud: Berakhos 19b).

(This was stated regarding a person who discovers that his outer garment is made of shatnez, a forbidden mixture of wool and linen, while walking in a public place. He is permitted to wear the garment until he can don another, due to kavod ha-briyos. However, we cannot apply this principle indiscriminately.)

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“God said to Moshe [concerning Miriam]: If her father were to spit in her face, would she not be disgraced for seven days? Let her be quarantined outside the camp for seven days…” (Numbers 12:14). The Targum renders “If her father spat in her face…” as “if her father rebuked her.” This is because it is unthinkable that a father would spit on his daughter (see Sifre, ad loc.).

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Concerning the rite of chalitzah, the severance of marital obligations between a man and his widowed sister-in-law, the Talmudic sages did not take the Torah’s words at face value. The Torah states: “Then his brother’s widow shall approach him in the sight of the elders, remove the sandal from his foot, and spit in his face” (Deuteronomy 25:9). The Sifre (ad loc., 159) comments: “Could she literally spit in his face? The verse states ‘in the sight of the elders’—meaning, the spittle can be seen by the elders.” Thus, Rashi (ad loc.) comments that the widow “spits on the ground”—not in his face.

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The Jewish people in particular—and as a whole—have a special closeness to God, as attested by our having received the Torah at Mount Sinai. Thus, the Jewish people have been empowered to become a “light unto the nations,” when we live up to our Divine mandate.

Rebbe Nachman once said that he sensed heaven’s decrees concerning the Jewish people before other tzadddikm. “The reason for this,” he explained, “is because I know my true lowliness, and as a result I know the great loftiness and holiness of the Jewish people—how precious and exalted they are. For they were drawn from a most awesome and exalted place. This is why I know everything that has been decreed before others.” Reb Noson, who wrote down these remarks, adds: “In the merit of the Rebbe, may God take pity on us and annul all harsh decrees and turn everything to the good” (Chayei Moharan, 276, abridged).

And in the merit of Rebbe Nachman, may we too appreciate “the true greatness and holiness of the Jewish people, and how precious and exalted they are in God’s eyes,” male and female, religious or secular or anywhere in between—as well as all human beings who are created be-tzelem Elokim, in the Divine Image, amen.