The connection between "Honor your father and your mother" and "Do not covet... anything of your fellow's": both straddle the distinction we commonly make between the human and the divine, the physical and the metaphysical, between desire and deed
This was my mother? My mother, the college professor? The valedictorian of her class? . . . I told the nurses what had transpired, and with understanding looks they explained that this type of mental deterioration was not uncommon for people with end-stage cancer.
The decision seemed like a no-brainer, but I didn't go with my brain on this one. I went with my gut. If I was truly to "put Judaism first," I needed to be with my mother; I needed to honor her. For the first time in my life, I made all the seder preparations and drove to Philadelphia, shank bone in tow...
What happens when a parent is aging ungracefully? What if they are becoming irritable, cantankerous and just plain difficult? Becoming old and forgetful isn’t pretty . . .
The basis for the commandment to honor our parents might be seen as rational and reasonable, since it would only seem right to acknowledge all that our parents gave us.
I have written before about not judging others for doing more or less than me. The words may have sounded good at the time, but now I realize that I hadn’t really internalized them...
The devoted family, an anchorage amid confusion, is rapidly disappearing. It is time to return to the values which created bonds of respect between children and parents.
I remember hearing a comedian describe his feelings on finally having children: "I was less willing to put up with fools. I was like, 'I don't need this, I can make my own people now...'"
Adam and Eve's children learned from them, by example, how a parent cares for a child. But they couldn't be an example to their children of how to look after one's parents
A basic principle of Jewish belief is that G‑d rewards us when we carry out His commands. G‑d will “do good to you, and give you length of days.” But does it always work like this?