The fifth commandment is “Honor your father and your mother, in order that your days be lengthened on the land that the Lord, your God, is giving you.” What does this mean, and who are the father and the mother?
According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, which describes the Bible according to the language of branches, where corporeal people, phenomena and objects in our world point to spiritual phenomena, structures and processes in the upper world, father and mother are the forces of Hassadim (mercy, bestowal) and Hochma (wisdom, reception).
The Creator is the upper force. He is followed by two lower ones: Hochma and Bina. Hochma is the force of the father and Bina is the force of the mother. Then there are another six derivatives that compose Zeir Anpin: Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod and Yesod.
The last Sefira is Malchut, which completes the process of creation.
The phrase, “Honor your father and your mother,” means that we should give Hochma and Bina the opportunity to create so that everything they have would appear in the six Sefirot of Zeir Anpin, the six lower forces.
“To honor” means to wait for their revelation in creation, because Hochma and Bina, father and mother, exist before and above the creation. The Creator creates through these forces. Therefore, the six Sefirot of Zeir Anpin are created by the father and the mother, which gives form to the creation.
“Honor your father and your mother” thus means to let these forces act within us. For instance, in our world, can a fetus in its mother’s womb make any decisions on its own account? Also, how much can a small child do? Their parents do everything for them. Thus, here we discuss the correct attitude of the lower one, the created being, to the upper one, the Creator. We in our world need to let the upper forces act on us and form us.
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Based on the talk “Spiritual States” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on December 26, 2016. Written/edited by students of Dr. Laitman.
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