ben sorer

By: Rav Zvi Davidson

This week's parsha contains the unique mitzvah of the Ben Sorer umorer and perhaps one of the most fascinating aspects of it, is as the gemora writes, that this scenario never was and never will be.

There are a number of challenging conditions required in order for the case of Ben sorer umorer to occur one of which is that the father and mother must speak with the exact same voice!

The Maharal explains this puzzling condition with a fascinating insight into the world of chinuch.

He writes that having the same voice doesn't only mean the same pitch and the same tone, but rather it means that the parents give a unified message to their child.

If the child is hearing conflicting values from his parents, he can't be accused of being a Ben Sorer umorer, you cannot hold him accountable for acting out. He has experienced a fractured world.

In a way, the unity of the parents represents the unity of Hashem, as a child looks to his parents as a model of how to relate to Hashem.

Perhaps this is why the mitzvah of honouring one's parents is in the first five of ten commandments, included in the list of mitzvot between us and Hashem, as it is to be used as a model of how to relate to Hashem.

Now that's amazing, as we give our children a model of unity in our homes, they are able to then relate to the world as emanating from Hashem in a unified manner and this gives them the strength to follow the way of Hashem faithfully.

May we all be faithful emissaries.

Shiur ID: 9299

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