Avos 4:12

בס׳ד

אבות ד:יב

Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua says: May the honor of your disciple be as precious to you as your own; And the honor of your friend like the awe of your Master; And the awe of your Master like the awe of Heaven.

רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן שַׁמּוּעַ אוֹמֵר, יְהִי כְבוֹד תַּלְמִידְךָ חָבִיב עָלֶיךָ כְּשֶׁלְּךָ, וּכְבוֹד חֲבֵרְךָ כְּמוֹרָא רַבְּךָ, וּמוֹרָא רַבְּךָ כְּמוֹרָא שָׁמָיִם:

        Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua was the last of the ten Sages of Yavneh martyred during the Hadrianic persecutions of the Torah scholars.  In order to understand his particular concern for honoring others, it might be helpful to learn a little about his death, as is described in the midrash Eleh Ezkarah.

“On that day he was 105 years old and from his childhood until his old age he had never listened to an idle conversation.  Nor had he entered into conflict with his friends in word or deed.  And he was humble and modest of spirit, spending 80 years in daily fasting.

And the day he was killed was Yom Kippur.  His disciples came to him and said: Our Master!  What do you see?  He replied: I see angelic beings carrying the couch of Rabbi Yehudah ben Damma.  And that of Rabbi Aqiva next to his.  And they are disputing halakhic questions with each other.  The disciples asked: Who’s moderating the disputes? He answered: Rabbi Ishmael.  They asked: Who’s winning?  He answered: Rabbi Aqiva, for he has given all his strength to the study of Torah!

He continued: My sons!  I see further that the souls of all the Tzaddikim are being purified in the Waters of Shiloakh in order to enter today the Heavenly Academy and hear the explanations of Rabbi Aqiva who is expounding all the matters of Yom Kippur.  And every single angelic being is bringing a golden throne to each Tzaddik to sit upon in purity.

At that moment, Caesar ordered his execution. Then a Voice from Heaven rang out: Blessed is Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua, who was pure in life and whose soul departed in purity!”

        The purity that Rabbi Elazar cared so much about was bound up with his complete ability to abandon his own honor in order to do honor to others.  As he saw it, this was the way to implement the mitzvah of “loving your neighbor as yourself.”  Notice this key point: that you should give honor to those beneath you in a way that you yourself feel is due you.  Now what if, like Rabbi Elazar, you are so humble that you forego your own honor?  Does that mean that you DON’T honor others?  Obviously not.  Your freedom from self-honor is the very thing that frees you up to honor others as Creatures of HaShem.  It is not the person’s worldly status you honor as much as the way that person fulfills a particular divinely-appointed Destiny in the world.  We have seen a similar point of view taught by Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (Avos 2:10) and Shimon ben Azai (Avos 4:3).

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