Q&A: A Reason for Honoring Father and Mother
A Reason for Honoring Father and Mother
Question
Is there a reason for the commandment of honoring parents? The Sefer HaChinukh is known for saying that we were commanded to honor parents משום gratitude. But on the other hand, Maimonides at the beginning of chapter 6 of the laws of Rebels writes something that seems a bit cold: he writes that just as we were commanded to honor God, so too we were commanded to honor parents. Is that it?
Is it relevant (or worthwhile) to look for the reasons behind the commandments? Why Sabbath? Why the Sabbatical year? Why eating pork? To those questions, do we answer “because the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded it,” or should we give some more fundamental answer?
Answer
I do not understand why you necessarily see a difference between the Sefer HaChinukh and Maimonides. One can explain that just as we were commanded to show gratitude to Him, so too to them.
Beyond that, we do not generally derive law from the reason of the verse, and even those who suggest reasons, what they come up with is usually not very convincing. You can look for reasons, but it is quite doubtful that you will find something convincing. Therefore I do not deal with this.