Peace. Love. Respect.

Day 242: "Honor Your Father and Mother": The Surprising Wording of the Biblical Commandment

Alright, put your lawyer hat on for a minute and delve deep into this commandment: honor your father and mother. What are the first problems or concerns you see or have? That mother isn't mentioned first? That father isn't mentioned second? That we are told to honor rather than any other action? That we aren't commanded to love our parents?

If you asked the last question, you're in for an interesting and incredibly relevant answer. As a teenager (who will still be a teenager until late 2016), I feel at liberty to say quite openly that we aren't always super happy with our parents. I'm lucky, I haven't had many conflicts with my parents and when we've had issues, we quickly work them out together. But Judaism and Jews in general are realistic: not every person is as lucky as I am. There are families out there where the children hate the parents...and honestly? That pains me to even think.

Even if you hate your parents, even if you feel a single morsel of unhappiness with your parents, you are still commanded to respect them. Love to your parents may not always be attainable but respect always is. There are infinite ways to respect your parents.

On a personal note, I feel I've been skimping here lately. I feel like whenever I talk to my parents now, I'm in a bad mood. It certainly isn't intentional, it just happens that we talk at times that aren't always convenient for me or subjects are brought up I'm not ready to discuss. Even so, I should be working harder to convey the respect I have for my wonderful parents.