HONOR | KAVOD | כבוד
PHRASE/SLOGAN
Treat everyone and everything as significant
See the infinite value, equalness, and uniqueness in all people and things
See everything as a "person" or subject rather than object
Honor the soul even in difficult others and things
Don't seek honor for yourself yet give honor to the holiness of your soul
Underneath the impulse to dishonor others look for your own desire for honor
Remind people of their significance by greeting and giving your attention
See the infinite value, equalness, and uniqueness in all people and things
See everything as a "person" or subject rather than object
Honor the soul even in difficult others and things
Don't seek honor for yourself yet give honor to the holiness of your soul
Underneath the impulse to dishonor others look for your own desire for honor
Remind people of their significance by greeting and giving your attention
SOUL TRAIT (MIDDAH) SPECTRUM
ETYMOLOGY
Kavod / כבוד
- honor, splendor, glory, beauty; abundance, riches; importance
- respect, dignity
- root - כבד
- to be heavy, weighty
- difficulty
- burdensome
- respected, distinguished
- offered refreshments
- exalted
- grew worse, became heavier
- to sweep, treat a place honorably by cleaning
- great
- hard
- numerous
- liver, the heavy organ
- gravity
- abundance, multitude
- serious
- stubborn
- severe
- significance
- wealthy
- spiritual greatness
TORAH
(יב) כַּבֵּ֥ד אֶת־אָבִ֖יךָ וְאֶת־אִמֶּ֑ךָ לְמַ֙עַן֙ יַאֲרִכ֣וּן יָמֶ֔יךָ עַ֚ל הָאֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָֽךְ׃ (ס)
(12) Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that the LORD your God is assigning to you.
(ב) וְאַבְרָ֖ם כָּבֵ֣ד מְאֹ֑ד בַּמִּקְנֶ֕ה בַּכֶּ֖סֶף וּבַזָּהָֽב׃
(2) Now Abram was very rich in cattle, silver, and gold.
(יג) וְלֶ֤חֶם אֵין֙ בְּכָל־הָאָ֔רֶץ כִּֽי־כָבֵ֥ד הָרָעָ֖ב מְאֹ֑ד וַתֵּ֜לַהּ אֶ֤רֶץ מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ וְאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן מִפְּנֵ֖י הָרָעָֽב׃
(13) Now there was no bread in all the world, for the famine was very severe; both the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.
(י) וְעֵינֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ כָּבְד֣וּ מִזֹּ֔קֶן לֹ֥א יוּכַ֖ל לִרְא֑וֹת וַיַּגֵּ֤שׁ אֹתָם֙ אֵלָ֔יו וַיִּשַּׁ֥ק לָהֶ֖ם וַיְחַבֵּ֥ק לָהֶֽם׃
(10) Now Israel’s eyes were dim with age; he could not see. So [Joseph] brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
(י) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֣ה אֶל־יְהוָה֮ בִּ֣י אֲדֹנָי֒ לֹא֩ אִ֨ישׁ דְּבָרִ֜ים אָנֹ֗כִי גַּ֤ם מִתְּמוֹל֙ גַּ֣ם מִשִּׁלְשֹׁ֔ם גַּ֛ם מֵאָ֥ז דַּבֶּרְךָ אֶל־עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ כִּ֧י כְבַד־פֶּ֛ה וּכְבַ֥ד לָשׁ֖וֹן אָנֹֽכִי׃
(10) But Moses said to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, I have never been a man of words, either in times past or now that You have spoken to Your servant; I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."
וַיִּשְׁלַ֣ח פַּרְעֹ֔ה וְהִנֵּ֗ה לֹא־מֵ֛ת מִמִּקְנֵ֥ה יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל עַד־אֶחָ֑ד וַיִּכְבַּד֙ לֵ֣ב פַּרְעֹ֔ה וְלֹ֥א שִׁלַּ֖ח אֶת־הָעָֽם׃ (פ)
When Pharaoh inquired, he found that not a head of the livestock of Israel had died; yet Pharaoh remained stubborn, and he would not let the people go.
(ב) וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ בִגְדֵי־קֹ֖דֶשׁ לְאַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִ֑יךָ לְכָב֖וֹד וּלְתִפְאָֽרֶת׃
(2) Make sacral vestments for your brother Aaron, for dignity and adornment.
וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הַרְאֵ֥נִי נָ֖א אֶת־כְּבֹדֶֽךָ׃
He said, “Oh, let me behold Your Presence!”
MUSSAR
Dr. Alan Morinis, Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar (2007)
Honor, respect, and dignity are due to each and every human being not because of the greatness of their achievements or how they have behaved, but because they are home to a soul that is inherently holy. Nobody created their own soul; everybody has been gifted with a rarefied essence. (Chp. 13: Honor)
Honor, respect, and dignity are due to each and every human being not because of the greatness of their achievements or how they have behaved, but because they are home to a soul that is inherently holy. Nobody created their own soul; everybody has been gifted with a rarefied essence. (Chp. 13: Honor)
Rabbi David Jaffe, Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change (2016)
In the late nineteenth century, the Mussar master Rabbi Simcha Ziesl Ziv claimed that a human being cannot live without kavod . . . The Nazis understood this and perfected denying whole classes of people dignity. A cursory look at the policies and propaganda used in the African slave trade and the genocide against the native peoples of North America, as well as any number of oppressive campaigns reveals the use of similar and sometimes as extreme methods of dehumanization to both justify and reinforce the denial of kavod. The goal of most, if not all, social-change efforts is to restore human dignity. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
In the late nineteenth century, the Mussar master Rabbi Simcha Ziesl Ziv claimed that a human being cannot live without kavod . . . The Nazis understood this and perfected denying whole classes of people dignity. A cursory look at the policies and propaganda used in the African slave trade and the genocide against the native peoples of North America, as well as any number of oppressive campaigns reveals the use of similar and sometimes as extreme methods of dehumanization to both justify and reinforce the denial of kavod. The goal of most, if not all, social-change efforts is to restore human dignity. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
Dr. Alan Morinis, Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar (2007)
All of us are, after all, made in the divine image, and so when we dishonor people we dishonor God, and when we honor people we honor God. (Chp. 11: Order)
All of us are, after all, made in the divine image, and so when we dishonor people we dishonor God, and when we honor people we honor God. (Chp. 11: Order)
Rabbi David Jaffe, Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change (2016)
When we give someone kavod, we are saying, “You are significant and deserving of recognition and good treatment.” If kavod implies weight or gravitas, the opposite is kal, or “light.” We disrespect someone by treating them lightly, as if they are not significant—and kal is the foundation of the word klala, or “curse.” It is a curse to treat people as if they are not significant by not giving them attention, or underpaying or mistreating them. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
When we give someone kavod, we are saying, “You are significant and deserving of recognition and good treatment.” If kavod implies weight or gravitas, the opposite is kal, or “light.” We disrespect someone by treating them lightly, as if they are not significant—and kal is the foundation of the word klala, or “curse.” It is a curse to treat people as if they are not significant by not giving them attention, or underpaying or mistreating them. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
Rabbi David Jaffe, Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change (2016)
Giving kavod is essential to people’s well-being, but seeking kavod is destructive to both the seeker and the larger community. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
Giving kavod is essential to people’s well-being, but seeking kavod is destructive to both the seeker and the larger community. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
Rabbi David Jaffe, Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change (2016)
One way to make God’s presence more palpable in this world of hiddenness is to treat other humans with the respect they deserve as infinitely valuable, equal, and unique beings. . . . Infinitely valuable means that people have value beyond their usefulness to me or to society. Their value is essential and not instrumental in any way. This is a good thing to remember in capitalist societies that only value people for what they can produce. Equal means that, in an essential way, no one is more or less valuable than anyone else. Unique means that each particular person has something to offer the world that no one else ever did or ever will. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
One way to make God’s presence more palpable in this world of hiddenness is to treat other humans with the respect they deserve as infinitely valuable, equal, and unique beings. . . . Infinitely valuable means that people have value beyond their usefulness to me or to society. Their value is essential and not instrumental in any way. This is a good thing to remember in capitalist societies that only value people for what they can produce. Equal means that, in an essential way, no one is more or less valuable than anyone else. Unique means that each particular person has something to offer the world that no one else ever did or ever will. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
Rabbi David Jaffe, Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change (2016)
Close to two thousand years ago, the sages Ben Azzai and Rabbi Akiva debated over which was more important: humanity created in the divine image or the golden rule (“Love your neighbor as yourself”). In the same discussion, Rabbi Tanchuma points out that the golden rule is vulnerable to how a person feels about himself or herself and how he or she has been treated in the past. If a person feels mistreated and internalizes that mistreatment, he or she may want to bring others down and mistreat them as well. In such a situation, remembering that all people are created in the divine image could encourage the respectful treatment of others even when one feels bad about oneself. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
Close to two thousand years ago, the sages Ben Azzai and Rabbi Akiva debated over which was more important: humanity created in the divine image or the golden rule (“Love your neighbor as yourself”). In the same discussion, Rabbi Tanchuma points out that the golden rule is vulnerable to how a person feels about himself or herself and how he or she has been treated in the past. If a person feels mistreated and internalizes that mistreatment, he or she may want to bring others down and mistreat them as well. In such a situation, remembering that all people are created in the divine image could encourage the respectful treatment of others even when one feels bad about oneself. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
Dr. Alan Morinis, Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar (2007)
The Mussar teachers have had almost as much to say about honor as humility, since the two are actually very closely linked. . . . disorder inevitably involves some sort of dishonor. The only question is, what or who is the target of the dishonor? When you live with other people and you are content to make a mess in shared spaces, you dishonor the people you live with. When you are careless and sloppy in your business dealings, you dishonor the people you work with. When you can’t keep anything straight for your customers, clients, or students, you dishonor the people you work for. And not just people. . . . to be disorderly also dishonors the inanimate things that are also part of our lives and may also be our responsibility. (Chp. 11: Order)
The Mussar teachers have had almost as much to say about honor as humility, since the two are actually very closely linked. . . . disorder inevitably involves some sort of dishonor. The only question is, what or who is the target of the dishonor? When you live with other people and you are content to make a mess in shared spaces, you dishonor the people you live with. When you are careless and sloppy in your business dealings, you dishonor the people you work with. When you can’t keep anything straight for your customers, clients, or students, you dishonor the people you work for. And not just people. . . . to be disorderly also dishonors the inanimate things that are also part of our lives and may also be our responsibility. (Chp. 11: Order)
בֶּן זוֹמָא אוֹמֵר: ... אֵיזֶהוּ מְכֻבָּד, הַמְכַבֵּד אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל א ב) כִּי מְכַבְּדַי אֲכַבֵּד וּבֹזַי יֵקָלּוּ:
Ben Zoma said: . . . Who is he that is honored? He who honors his fellow human beings as it is said: “For I honor those that honor Me, but those who spurn Me shall be dishonored” (I Samuel 2:30).
Rabbi David Jaffe, Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change (2016)
Treating others with dignity reveals our own inner dignity. There is a feedback loop here. When I treat others with dignity, I become more aware of my own dignity, which enables me to treat people even better. The converse is also true. When I judge others negatively, ripping them to shreds in my mind, I can’t be feeling good about myself. When I catch myself being so judgmental, I know it is a sign I am lacking in my inner dignity. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
Treating others with dignity reveals our own inner dignity. There is a feedback loop here. When I treat others with dignity, I become more aware of my own dignity, which enables me to treat people even better. The converse is also true. When I judge others negatively, ripping them to shreds in my mind, I can’t be feeling good about myself. When I catch myself being so judgmental, I know it is a sign I am lacking in my inner dignity. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
Dr. Alan Morinis, Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar (2007)
There is a direct connection between the ego’s insistent but unquenchable craving for honor and that critical mind state in which we stand ourselves in fierce judgment over others, even to the extent of shaming them. We judge and criticize other people in a mistaken expression of the desire we have for love and honor for ourselves. (Chp. 13: Honor)
There is a direct connection between the ego’s insistent but unquenchable craving for honor and that critical mind state in which we stand ourselves in fierce judgment over others, even to the extent of shaming them. We judge and criticize other people in a mistaken expression of the desire we have for love and honor for ourselves. (Chp. 13: Honor)
Dr. Alan Morinis, Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar (2007)
We act with honor when we honor the other (as well as ourselves) by treating all beings with the utmost respect and dignity. We act with honor when we listen carefully to the needs of another and respond; when we look beneath surface differences to see the shared ground upon which all beings stand. (Chp. 13: Honor)
We act with honor when we honor the other (as well as ourselves) by treating all beings with the utmost respect and dignity. We act with honor when we listen carefully to the needs of another and respond; when we look beneath surface differences to see the shared ground upon which all beings stand. (Chp. 13: Honor)
Rabbi Dr. Tirzah Firestone, The Sacred Meaning of COVID-19 (2020)
It strikes me as ironic that the coronavirus was given the name COVID-19 by the World Health Organization. Strangely, COVID bears the same consonants as Cavod or Kavod, כבוד, the ancient Hebrew word for glory, honor, or divine Presence. I’m reminded that in the Torah, Moses begs God: “Har’eni na et KVOD-echa! Please show me your glorious KVD Presence! Show me Your face!”
Did you know that in the Kabbalah, Kavod is a code word for Shechinah? She is Mother Nature, the Power of Creation, who is the 1 who receives from and fountains back to the 9 other (masculine) faces of divinity. Therein lies the 19 of Kovid-19.
Wow! What if we understood KOVID-19 — this horrific virulent virus (our ancestors would surely call it a plague) — as Shechinah’s formidable face showing up today to admonish us, correct us, love us back into our rightful place as creatures, not masters, of this earth? Let’s ask: What can I do to put myself back in alignment with Heaven, with Mother Nature, with the Power that is Greater than us all?
It strikes me as ironic that the coronavirus was given the name COVID-19 by the World Health Organization. Strangely, COVID bears the same consonants as Cavod or Kavod, כבוד, the ancient Hebrew word for glory, honor, or divine Presence. I’m reminded that in the Torah, Moses begs God: “Har’eni na et KVOD-echa! Please show me your glorious KVD Presence! Show me Your face!”
Did you know that in the Kabbalah, Kavod is a code word for Shechinah? She is Mother Nature, the Power of Creation, who is the 1 who receives from and fountains back to the 9 other (masculine) faces of divinity. Therein lies the 19 of Kovid-19.
Wow! What if we understood KOVID-19 — this horrific virulent virus (our ancestors would surely call it a plague) — as Shechinah’s formidable face showing up today to admonish us, correct us, love us back into our rightful place as creatures, not masters, of this earth? Let’s ask: What can I do to put myself back in alignment with Heaven, with Mother Nature, with the Power that is Greater than us all?
Rabbi Dr. Zvi Ish-Shalom, COVID-19 and the Divine Feminine (2020)
- Hebrew word כובד, literal meaning “heaviness”, direct phonetic spelling of COVID
- exact same letters as כבוד (“kavod”)
- difference in spelling, order of two middle letters reversed
- Jewish mystical tradition (and rabbinic tradition more broadly), word כבוד is classic reference to feminine principle, divine feminine, divine presence, Shekhinah, divine light in immanent/manifest form
- Psalms 45:13: “The glory of the princess is within"
- numerical value (gematria) for both COVID and כבוד is 32, same numerical value as לב (“heart”)
- the word COVID reflects a distortion of the feminine principle, contains same letters as כבוד but out of order at the heart of the word, in its center, distorted divine feminine wisdom and wisdom of the heart in human collective
- expresses a humanity out of alignment with its sacred source, a humanity suffering the “heaviness” of being out of sync with the feminine wisdom of creation
- we have the potential to put the heart of the word COVID (the same numerical value as the Hebrew word for heart, לב) back into its correct order, reversing the middle letters in the word כובד and transforming the heaviness of this plague into the shining “glory”, the כבוד, of the divine presence
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:
He used to say: do not despise any man, and do not discriminate against anything, for there is no man that has not his hour, and there is no thing that has not its place.
רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר הַקַּפָּר אוֹמֵר, הַקִּנְאָה וְהַתַּאֲוָה וְהַכָּבוֹד, מוֹצִיאִין אֶת הָאָדָם מִן הָעוֹלָם:
Rabbi Elazar Ha-kappar said: envy, lust and [the desire for] honor put a man out of the world.
Rabbi David Jaffe, Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change (2016)
What does it mean that jealousy, lust, and honor-seeking “drive one from the world”? Jealousy, lust, and honor-seeking all involve reducing others to instrumental objects. When I feel jealous of a colleague’s accomplishments and status, I am not really seeing that person. I am only seeing my lack and what I want. Lust is a drive to satisfy one’s own sexual desires through intimate contact with another person. That other person’s needs are secondary or irrelevant. When I seek kavod, I do not care what anyone else around me needs or wants. All I notice is my own desperate need for recognition, attention, and praise. Others are either obstacles to getting this recognition and need to be removed or instruments to be manipulated to help me get kavod. These three traits drive one from the world because they disconnect us from the humanity of the other. They are also insatiable. . . . Trying to fulfill these desires drives one farther and farther away from real connection to others and to oneself and in this way drives one from the world. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
What does it mean that jealousy, lust, and honor-seeking “drive one from the world”? Jealousy, lust, and honor-seeking all involve reducing others to instrumental objects. When I feel jealous of a colleague’s accomplishments and status, I am not really seeing that person. I am only seeing my lack and what I want. Lust is a drive to satisfy one’s own sexual desires through intimate contact with another person. That other person’s needs are secondary or irrelevant. When I seek kavod, I do not care what anyone else around me needs or wants. All I notice is my own desperate need for recognition, attention, and praise. Others are either obstacles to getting this recognition and need to be removed or instruments to be manipulated to help me get kavod. These three traits drive one from the world because they disconnect us from the humanity of the other. They are also insatiable. . . . Trying to fulfill these desires drives one farther and farther away from real connection to others and to oneself and in this way drives one from the world. (Chp. 8 - Created in the Divine Image: Kavod/Dignity and Honor)
רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן שַׁמּוּעַ אוֹמֵר, יְהִי כְבוֹד תַּלְמִידְךָ חָבִיב עָלֶיךָ כְּשֶׁלְּךָ, וּכְבוֹד חֲבֵרְךָ כְּמוֹרָא רַבְּךָ, וּמוֹרָא רַבְּךָ כְּמוֹרָא שָׁמָיִם:
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.
Rabbi Shalom Noach Barzofsky (The Slonimer Rebbe), in Rabbi David Jaffe, Additional Resources for Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change (2016), https://rabbidavidjaffe.com/kavod-dignity/
When the Mishnah asks, “Who is dignified?” it does not mean, “Who is made dignified by other people,” as is the common understanding. What value is there in being dependent on other people giving you dignity? Rather, “Who is dignified? One who gives dignity to all people” is teaching that the gaze of one person to another is like glancing in the mirror – if his face is dirty he will see in the mirror a dirty face. So it is the same when a person looks at the other – the amount that he is pure and refined internally, so he will look more generously upon the other and see good attributes. On the other hand, if he is infected with bad attributes and behaviors, so he will see bad attributes in everyone else. Therefore, the truly dignified person is the one who treats all people with dignity, who appreciates all people. This behavior is the true sign that he is dignified himself. (Kavod/Dignity)
When the Mishnah asks, “Who is dignified?” it does not mean, “Who is made dignified by other people,” as is the common understanding. What value is there in being dependent on other people giving you dignity? Rather, “Who is dignified? One who gives dignity to all people” is teaching that the gaze of one person to another is like glancing in the mirror – if his face is dirty he will see in the mirror a dirty face. So it is the same when a person looks at the other – the amount that he is pure and refined internally, so he will look more generously upon the other and see good attributes. On the other hand, if he is infected with bad attributes and behaviors, so he will see bad attributes in everyone else. Therefore, the truly dignified person is the one who treats all people with dignity, who appreciates all people. This behavior is the true sign that he is dignified himself. (Kavod/Dignity)
רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר, כָּל הַמְכַבֵּד אֶת הַתּוֹרָה, גּוּפוֹ מְכֻבָּד עַל הַבְּרִיּוֹת. וְכָל הַמְחַלֵּל אֶת הַתּוֹרָה, גּוּפוֹ מְחֻלָּל עַל הַבְּרִיּוֹת:
Rabbi Yose said: whoever honors the Torah is himself honored by others, and whoever dishonors the Torah is himself dishonored by others.
Dr. Alan Morinis, With Heart in Mind: Mussar Teachings to Transform Your Life (2014)
Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe would not permit the students in his Mussar classes to rise for him when he entered the room or approached the lectern to deliver a talk. He explained that when he spoke in the yeshiva, it was important that the students stand for him, because they had to learn to give honor to the Torah and its teachers. (Chp. 34: Distancing from Honor)
Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe would not permit the students in his Mussar classes to rise for him when he entered the room or approached the lectern to deliver a talk. He explained that when he spoke in the yeshiva, it was important that the students stand for him, because they had to learn to give honor to the Torah and its teachers. (Chp. 34: Distancing from Honor)