ספר ויקרא

Anyone who has the good fortune to have refined his ‎personality to such an extent can hardly have considered himself ‎as having originated from a putrid drop of sperm, in the words of ‎Akavya, neither would he have considered himself as proceeding ‎to a destination described by Akavya as ‎עפר רמה ותולעה‎, “dust, ‎decay and vermin.”It is also known that the tzaddik is ‎referred to as ‎בן‎, “son” by G’d, and when a son comes to his ‎father, even in order to be judged, he does not approach his ‎father with fear as he is sure that his father will find him ‎innocent of the accusations which resulted in his having to stand ‎trial. Such self-confidence by a son is not automatic if the son had ‎all his life been obeying his father only because he had feared ‎being punished if any wrongdoing of his would be discovered. The ‎fact that this type of son had not looked up to his father as ‎someone deserving of the utmost respect regardless of his power ‎to mete out punishment, had prevented a close bond being ‎established between father and son. Hence the son’s real anxiety ‎when appearing before his father as an accused. The son whose ‎obedience was based on fear of punishment is far more closely ‎tied to his physical father and mother, so that when reminded ‎that his origin in this world goes back to a putrid drop of semen ‎this is likely to remind him of his insignificance, and will restrain ‎him from committing transgressions, most of which are due to ‎his arrogance vis a vis his peers. He is not in a relationship ‎of son to his Creator, but rather in the relationship of servant to ‎master. When a servant is summoned to appear in court to ‎answer some accusation, he is not supremely confident of his ‎acquittal, -assuming that he is innocent,- but is greatly worried ‎about the outcome of the trial. This is what Akavya had in mind ‎when he addressed his saying, while not to sinners, but to two ‎different categories of Jews both of whom observe the ‎commandments but for different reasons. When he spoke of ‎concerning yourself with “where you are headed,” he meant that ‎when you worry to constantly become closer to your Creator as ‎you serve Him because of your ‎יראת הרוממות‎, he meant that this ‎by itself would ensure that he would not lapse into sin. When ‎addressing the person serving G’d from fear of punishment, ‎however, he reminded that person that failure to consider that ‎his destination might become only dust, decay and vermin, ‎without the prospect of a hereafter, this might act as a deterrent ‎to being lured into sin. In light of the foregoing, we conclude that ‎the reason why the verse ‎איש אמו ואביו תיראו‎, which on the face of ‎it appears to repeat the fifth commandment to “honour your ‎father and mother,” with a minor variation, is inserted by the ‎Torah at this point to warn us not to attach oneself to the merely ‎physical parts of mother and father, but to seek closer association ‎with the Divine Father, one’s spiritual origin. Of this part of ‎man’s origin only can it be said: ‎כי קדוש אני‎, “for I am holy.”‎