A Short Tribute

" Visit your neighbor sparingly, Lest he have his surfeit of you and loathe you". This means that one honors others more from afar than from nearby. The heart coarsens towards someone who is nearby and becomes a burden and bother, unlike someone distant, for whom the heart yearns and longs, and seeks to bestow kindliness. That is why King Solomon, may he rest in peace, wisely advises to "Visit your neighbor sparingly, Lest he have his surfeit of you and loathe you". When a person, who has always lived with his father and mother, shares his home with them, they are likely to eventually become a burden. This is the meaning of the text, "When a person honors his father and mother, the Holy One, Blessed be He, says: I ascribe credit to them as if I dwelt between them and they honor Me as well" – I know that you will always honor Me, but I do not commend you for this honor, since "From afar God is seen to me". Were I to dwell among you, you might not honor me. If you honor your father and mother, if they dwell among you, "I ascribe credit to them", despite My being distant, "as if I dwelt between them and they honor me as well". This is what is known as true honor. But if you do not honor your father and mother, despite your honoring Me, this is not honor; it is as though I would dwell among you as does your father, and you would not honor Me.