(3) And one would call to the other, “Holy, holy, holy! The LORD of Hosts! God's Kavod (glory) fills all the earth!”
The Hebrew word kavod meaning RESPECT/DIGNITY/HONOR involves treating oneself and others in a way that reflects the reality that all people are created in the divine image.
In Jewish contexts, this word is used in the following ways:
- Kibud av va-eim (honoring father and mother)
- Lich’vod Shabbat (to honor Shabbat)
- Lich’vod Torah (to honor Torah)
- Kavod ha-rav (the honor of rabbi/teacher)
- Kavod ha-meit (the honor of the dead)
- (This word is also used many times in the story of Exodus when Pharaoh is hard-hearted or stubborn – his heart is kaveid.)
Kavod For Self and Kavod for Others
Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, Alei Shur
The word kavod comes from a Hebrew root meaning weighty or heavy. The diametric opposite is the word klala (curse) which comes from the Hebrew root meaning light. When I relate to someone with due seriousness I honor him/her, and if I treat him/her lightly, it is as if I curse him/her.
Honor is external behavior mandated by and appropriate to a reality of inner holiness. Behold, you have within you a holy divine image –this requires you to treat yourself with a certain level of self-respect.
- What does it mean to you to be “made in the divine image”?
- Would you do anything differently if you wanted to intentionally reflect the divine image?
- Where and when do you struggle to treat yourself with self-respect or to see that inner holiness?
(ג) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אַל תְּהִי בָז לְכָל אָדָם, וְאַל תְּהִי מַפְלִיג לְכָל דָּבָר, שֶׁאֵין לְךָ אָדָם שֶׁאֵין לוֹ שָׁעָה וְאֵין לְךָ דָבָר שֶׁאֵין לוֹ מָקוֹם:
(3) He (Ben Azzai) used to say: do not despise anyone, and do not discriminate against anything, for there is no person that has not his hour, and there is no thing that has not its place.
- Are there people with whom you struggle to feel honor toward or to act with honor towards?
- How might Ben Azzai's words direct your actions or change your point of view?
Be Wary of Kavod Seeking
(כא) רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר הַקַּפָּר אוֹמֵר, הַקִּנְאָה וְהַתַּאֲוָה וְהַכָּבוֹד, מוֹצִיאִין אֶת הָאָדָם מִן הָעוֹלָם:
(21) Rabbi Elazar Ha-kappar said: envy, lust and [the desire for] honor drive a person from the world.
- What does it mean to be driven from the world?
- Why might Rabbi Elazar HaKappar have made such a statement?
- What is your experience with the drive for kavod/honor & glory?
Rabbi David Jaffee, Tikkun Middot Curriculum
Rav Kook teaches that "It is only when a person is in a state of low-level spirituality he will experience a desire to glorify himself before honoring others. Such a person will seek honor both through the virtues he possesses and with other virtues that he does not possess." When we need and seek recognition from others, it is a sure sign that we lack a deep sense of our own holiness and kavod.
Kavod in Action
(יב) רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן שַׁמּוּעַ אוֹמֵר, יְהִי כְבוֹד תַּלְמִידְךָ חָבִיב עָלֶיךָ כְּשֶׁלְּךָ, וּכְבוֹד חֲבֵרְךָ כְּמוֹרָא רַבְּךָ, וּמוֹרָא רַבְּךָ כְּמוֹרָא שָׁמָיִם:
(12) Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua said: let the honor of your student be as dear to you as your own, and the honor of your colleague as the reverence for your teacher, and the reverence for your teacher as the reverence of heaven.
This teaching tells us to keep reaching our kavod one level beyond even what is called for. How might we translate this into our own lives today? How might we manifest these levels of honor?
Alan Morinis, Everyday Holiness
(On Kavod:) Do not seek honor for yourself, but go out of your way to honor others.
Honoring others...does not mean giving up the power and practice of exercising judgment, but puts the focus on moving away from unwise, useless, habitual, and even destructive acts of judgment. We start to move in that direction when we recognize the roots of the problem lie in our own fears and our own inadequacies...that make us fear that others will not give us the honor we feel we want or need.