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4 הַלְלוּהוּ בְתֹף וּמָחוֹל הַלְלוּהוּ בְּמִנִּים וְעוּגָב According to the ma'amar "Tik'u" etc., "to draw peace into the world" — see there in the first book, Torah 14. And the general principle is that one must raise the kavod to its root, which is yirah [fear of G-d] etc. And the primary kavod is to make ba'alei teshuvah [penitents] and gairim [converts] — and this is the primary glory of Hashem, blessed be He. And it is not possible to draw close ba'alei teshuvah and gairim except through the Torah. For the talmid chacham, when he engages in the Torah — which has 600,000 letters — he awakens the roots of the neshamos of Israel that arose in the primordial thought (machshavah techilah), which are 600,000 neshamos corresponding to the 600,000 letters of the Torah. And all of them are rooted in the letters of the holy Torah. And through the talmid chacham awakening the root of their neshamah, through this the neshamos sparkle to one another. And through this, illumination reaches even the sinners of Israel, and he returns in teshuvah. And through this, the neshamos of gairim are also born etc. And these ba'alei teshuvah and gairim are the aspect of palga [half / incomplete], for they need great exertions and they have many obstacles (meni'os) before they strip off the soiled garments (begadim tzo'im) that obstruct them from holiness greatly etc. But the neshamos of the children of the true talmid chacham — who merited to awaken the roots of neshamos in the primordial thought — their neshamos are luminous and pure etc.; see there all this well. And when one raises the kavod, one must return it to its root, which is yirah. And therefore one must honor those who fear Hashem — in the aspect of "and those who fear Hashem he honors" (Psalms 15:4) — for there is the root of the kavod, as mentioned above. And now the kavod is in exile, for they have all the kavod etc. And in the future, when the kavod returns to holiness, to Israel, then will be fulfilled "and the earth shone from His glory" (Ezekiel 43:2) etc.; see there all this well. And this is the aspect of the mitzvah of honoring father and mother, which "the Makom compared to His own honor." For all the obstacles from holy matters that each person of Israel has are only through the soiled garments that he clothed [upon his neshamah] through his sins — which obstruct him from holiness very greatly, as is explained in the aforementioned ma'amar. And these soiled garments, even though they were made through his sins, nevertheless they are also drawn from the side of holadah [birth] — because his father and mother did not sanctify themselves at the time of tashmish [marital relations]. Through this, the hold of the soiled garments is drawn upon him. For it is brought that one's father and mother give the son a garment (levush) for his neshamah, through which he performs all his service in this world. And when his father and mother did not sanctify themselves as fitting, then the aspect of soiled garments takes hold upon the levush, which obstruct him from holiness — in the aspect of "Behold, in iniquity I was formed, and in sin my mother conceived me" (Psalms 51:7). And this is alluded to in the aforementioned ma'amar: that the children of talmidei chachamim — their neshamos are luminous and pure, because they drew a luminous and pure neshamah. But the children of ammei ha'aretz — their neshamah is blemished, because their father and mother did not sanctify themselves as fitting. And each person must bear great exertions until he strips off the soiled garments and clothes himself in clean garments. And this itself is the aspect of what is explained there in the aforementioned ma'amar: that the primary kavod is when those who are far from Hashem, blessed be He, return in teshuvah etc., as mentioned above. For certainly when those who are far return in teshuvah, and they strip off from themselves the soiled garments and clothe themselves in clean raiment, certainly the kavod is greatly magnified. For the garments are the aspect of kavod, in the aspect of "and you shall honor him" — "honor him with clean raiment" — as is explained there in the aforementioned ma'amar. For Rabbi Yochanan called his garments "mechabdusa" [my honorers] (Bava Kamma 91). And this is the aspect of kibud av va'aim. For each person must give kavod to his father and mother. And through giving them kavod, through this, garments of kavod are drawn upon him, and he strips off from himself the soiled garments and is clothed in garments of kavod for his neshamah — in the aspect of "for those who honor Me, I will honor" (I Samuel 2:30). As our Sages of blessed memory said: "Who is honored? He who honors the creations, as it is said, 'for those who honor Me, I will honor.'" It turns out that when one gives kavod to his father and mother, then kavod is drawn upon him from them, in the aspect of "for those who honor Me, I will honor." And upon this depends the entire Torah and the rectification of all good deeds — when one merits drawing upon himself kavod from his father and mother. That is, the aspect of garments of kavod for his neshamah. For through this, he strips off the soiled garments and clothes himself in garments of kavod. And therefore, even though a person is obligated to honor every person of Israel, as our Sages of blessed memory said, "Who is honored?" etc. — nevertheless, the primary kavod one must give to his father and mother, in order to draw from them through this garments of kavod, as mentioned above. For upon them depends the primary garments of kavod that one needs to receive from them. For all the rectification of his deeds depends on the garments of his neshamah that he merits receiving at all times from his father and mother — for the garments of his neshamah constantly receive vitality from his father and mother, for there is its root. And therefore one must honor them, so that the garments will be in the aspect of garments of kavod, in the aspect of "for those who honor Me, I will honor," as mentioned above. Also, through giving kavod to his father and mother, through this he returns the kavod to its root, which is yirah. For there, by the father and mother, is the root of yirah. For the father and mother are the aspect of the first two letters of the Name Havayah, which are yud-hei, as is known. And yud-hei is the aspect of yirah, as it is written, "For in Kah (yud-hei), Hashem, is the Rock of worlds" (Isaiah 26:4) — and the Targum translates: "dechilu Hashem" [the fear of Hashem]. For the primary yirah is in the aspect of holadah, in the aspect of bris, in the aspect of "Beraishis — bris aish" [covenant of fire], "yarai boshes" [fear of shame]. For "taman talya yirah" [there fear depends], as it is written regarding Yosef — who guarded the bris: "I fear G-d" (Genesis 42:18). And therefore his father and mother, who merited to beget him — and since they merited holy holadah through their union — therefore their union is in the aspect of shmiras habris, which is the aspect of yirah, as mentioned above. And therefore the Torah warned: "Each man — his mother and his father you shall fear" (Leviticus 19:3). For there is the place of yirah. And therefore one must honor them, in order to raise the kavod and return it to its root, which is yirah, as mentioned above. And therefore "the Makom compared them to His own honor." For all the honor of the Makom depends on honoring father and mother — for through this one raises the kavod to its root, and clothes his neshamah in garments of kavod. And upon this depends the entire rectification of his good deeds, which are the primary glory of Hashem, blessed be He, as mentioned above. And therefore no mitzvah overrides honoring father and mother. As it is written, "Each man — his mother and his father you shall fear, and My Sabbaths you shall keep" (Leviticus 19:3). And as our Sages of blessed memory said [that the juxtaposition teaches that Shabbos takes precedence]. For the primary mitzvah of honoring father and mother is only for the sake of the fulfillment of the Torah — that one should merit through this to draw garments of kavod for his neshamah, through which he will merit to fulfill the Torah, as mentioned above. But not to push aside any matter of Torah, G-d forbid. And therefore certainly one does not need to fulfill the words of his father when he prevents him from a holy matter. For the primary honoring of his father and mother is only to fulfill through this the words of the Torah, as mentioned above. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: "All of you are obligated in My honor." That is, as mentioned above — that the primary kibud av va'aim is for the sake of the kavod of Hashem, blessed be He. But not to transgress the words of Torah, G-d forbid. And this is: "All of you are obligated in My honor" — for the kavod of Hashem, blessed be He, overrides everything. For even the primary mitzvah of kibud av va'aim is for the sake of His glory, blessed be He, as mentioned above. And therefore Torah study is greater than honoring father and mother (Megillah 16b). For the primary honoring of father and mother is to draw garments for his neshamah, the aspect of garments of kavod, as mentioned above. And the primary holiness of the neshamah is drawn from the Torah, where its root is, as mentioned above. And therefore the primary awakening of teshuvah is only through engaging in Torah — which is the root of the neshamos. Through this one merits teshuvah, which is His glory, blessed be He. And therefore certainly Torah study is greater than honoring father and mother. For the primary holiness and kavod of the neshamah is drawn only from Torah study — for there, in the Torah, is the primary root of our neshamos in the primordial thought of the Holy One, blessed be He, as mentioned above. And therefore our Sages of blessed memory said: "There is no kavod except Torah." For there is the primary kavod, as mentioned above. And this is what is written in the holy Zohar: "Honor your father and your mother — to honor them with good deeds." For the primary honoring of father and mother is for the sake of good deeds. For through this one merits garments of kavod for his nefesh, through which he merits good deeds, as mentioned above. And therefore Aisav the wicked fulfilled honoring father and mother somewhat. For it is known that by Aisav there were many holy neshamos, as it is written, "for prey was in his mouth" (Genesis 25:28), as is brought in the Kesavim [writings of the Ari z"l]. And therefore many gairim came out from him afterward. And these nitzotzos [sparks] of the neshamos of the gairim that came out from him afterward — their primary rectification, so that they could come out from him, was through the aspect of clean raiment (k'sus nekiyah), as is understood from the aforementioned ma'amar on the verse "and you shall honor him" — "honor him with clean raiment." "Clean raiment" — this is the kanfei mitzvah [wings of the commandment] etc., which is the aspect of gairim etc.; see there. And it has already been explained that the clean raiment — that is, garments of kavod for the nefesh — is drawn through kibud av va'aim. Therefore, because there were in Aisav nitzotzos of the neshamos of the gairim, therefore these nitzotzos exerted themselves to fulfill this mitzvah specifically — that is, the mitzvah of honoring the father — in order to draw upon the nitzotzos some aspect of clean raiment, so that it would be possible for them to be refined and to come out. And therefore they exerted themselves to fulfill the mitzvah of kavod specifically. And this is what is brought in the sefarim: that the length of the exile is because Aisav fulfilled somewhat the mitzvah of kavod. That is, as mentioned above. For our Sages of blessed memory said: "Israel was not exiled among the nations except so that gairim should be added to them." It turns out that the length of the exile is for the sake of clarifying and extracting from Aisav the neshamos of the gairim. And everything comes to the same point. And this is the same as what [the sefarim say about] needing to be in exile because of the kibud av that he [Aisav] fulfilled. For it is all one. For through his fulfilling somewhat the mitzvah of kibud, therefore the nitzotzos merited being clarified, as mentioned above. And therefore we need to bear the exile in order to clarify these nitzotzos — to extract the kavod, that is, the aforementioned nitzotzos, from the degradation of the exile. And through this very thing — that we bear exile by him — through this we give and pay him the reward for his mitzvah of kibud. It turns out that it is all one, for "the ways of Hashem are straight" (Hosea 14:10). And when the nitzotzos of the neshamos of the gairim are completed in being clarified, then all the nitzotzos of holiness will come out from him. And then automatically all the reward for his kibud av will be paid to him — for it was only through the nitzotzos of the neshamos of the gairim, as mentioned above. And then the kavod will return to its root, to holiness. And then will be fulfilled: "And saviors shall ascend Mount Tziyon to judge the mountain of Aisav, and the kingship shall be Hashem's" (Obadiah 1:21). And then will be fulfilled: "And the earth shone from His glory" (Ezekiel 43:2) — amain and amain. Core concept (LM I:14): Kavod must be raised to its root = yirah. Primary kavod = making ba'alei teshuvah and gairim, accomplished through Torah study (600,000 letters awakening 600,000 neshamos). Ba'alei teshuvah/gairim must strip off "soiled garments"; children of talmidei chachamim have luminous neshamos. Kibud Av va'Aim (§1): Obstacles from holiness come from soiled garments, partly inherited from parents who didn't sanctify themselves at conception. Honoring parents draws garments of kavod for one's neshamah ("ki mechabdai achabaid"), stripping off the soiled ones. Also returns kavod to its root = yirah (father/mother = yud-hei = yirah; bris = yirah; Yosef who guarded the bris said "es haElokim ani yarai"). Mitzvos vs. Kibud (§2): No mitzvah overrides kibud av, but the purpose of kibud av itself is Torah fulfillment — so one needn't obey parents who prevent kedushah. "Kulchem chayavim bichvodi." Torah > Kibud (§3): Torah study is greater because the neshamah's root is in Torah (600,000 letters). "Ein kavod ela Torah." Zohar: "Honor your father and mother = honor them through good deeds." Aisav and Galus (§4): Aisav fulfilled kibud av somewhat because nitzotzos of gairim within him drove this mitzvah — to draw k'sus nekiyah enabling their eventual refinement. The exile among Aisav's descendants serves to extract these gairim-neshamos ("lo niglu Yisra'ail... ela k'dei sheyisvosfu alaihem gairim"). When all nitzotzos are clarified, kavod returns to kedushah: "v'ha'aretz hairah michvodo."