Understanding Your Middos - 92 Fire - Honor

Honor – A Trait That Comes From The Element of Fire

We are discussing the element of fire in the soul and its resulting traits. We have already discussed in the previous lessons the traits of conceit (gaavah), anger, and intolerance (hakpadah), which are all fire-based traits.

Now we will study the next trait that Rav Chaim Vital mentions which is rooted in the element of fire: the trait of kavod, honor.

Rav Chaim Vital groups together the traits of kavod (honor-seeking) and serarah (control-seeking) under one trait, under the general title of “kavod v’serarah”, “honor-seeking and control-seeking.”

First we will try to understand the trait of kavod (honor), and in the next lesson we will discuss serarah (control), with the help of Hashem.

The Root of Kavod (Honor) Is Holy

Although kavod (seeking honor) is one of the negative middos, there is a rule that all of the middos are essentially good at their root, just as all the other middos. Each of the middos can be used either for good or evil, as we know. Therefore, at its root, the trait of kavod (honor) is holy.

The higher root of kavod is in the kavod (glory) of Hashem, as in the verse, “I created it all for My honor.”[1] The “glory of Hashem” is the root of holy kavod. This is also known as the glory of the Shechinah. Our neshamah (Divine soul) is also called kavod, and the Rishonim state that this is based on the verse, “So that our glory can sing to You.”[2] According to one opinion in our Sages, even our physical body called kavod. One of the Sages, Rabbi Yochanan, said that a person’s clothing is also called a person’s kavod.[3]

Holy Kavod vs. Impaired Kavod

The word “kavod” comes from the word “kaved”, which is the liver. When a person seeks to be honored,this is the lower use of kavod, which gets its source from the liver. The nature of fire is to ascend, because fire belongs above, but when a person seeks kavod, he actually lowers his element of fire from his heart to his liver. His element of “fire” becomes lowered from its higher status, and this is the depth of the impaired kavod.

The soul’s three active elements (fire, wind and water) correspond to the three sections of the body: The element of fire corresponds to the head (the highest point of the body), the element of wind corresponds to the torso (the middle section of the body), and the element of water corresponds to the lower section of the body [from the stomach to the feet]. The soul’s element of fire belongs in the head, because fire rises above, to the head. When the element of fire is at the head, this is the trait of holy kavod, which is also called “the kavod of the wise Torah sages”.[4] But when the element of fire descends to the liver, this is the impaired kavod, because fire is meant to be above, but the “fire” of impaired kavod is a “fire” that remains down below.

The Torah says that Hashem made Pharoah’s heart “heavy”[5], and Chazal explain this to mean that his head had become a “heart of stone” [indifferent]. A “heaviness” in the heart means that one’s trait of honor has fallen from its elevated state into a lower, impaired state. This trait of a “heavy heart” can also exist in any person.

Thus, when kavod becomes impaired, it is called k’veidus, “heaviness”, where the kavod of a person drops from his head to his liver. When the trait of kavod is holy and repaired, the trait of kavod becomes elevated to its rightful place, at the highest point of the body, which is in the head.

Let us see more about the connection between the concepts of k’veidus/heaviness and kavod/honor.

How Yaakov and Yosef Rectified the Trait of Kavod/Honor

The first time where the Torah says the word kaveid (heavy) is, “And there was a heavy famine in the land”[6], when Avraham had to leave the land of Canaan to go down to Egypt, due to the “heavy” famine in the land of Canaan. On a deeper level, this meant that the kavod of Avraham, the honor of Avraham, would now descend. The famine represented the fall of the kavod of Avraham, because hunger affects the stomach, which is in the lower third section of the body, and the kavod which would have normally been revealed in the “head” would now instead fall to the level of the “stomach”.

When Avraham came back from Egypt, the Torah says that “his feet were heavy with gold and silver”. This “heaviness” had a positive meaning, for it was a heaviness that meant he had received blessing and wealth. This was an elevated kind of heaviness. However, the Torah says that this “heaviness” was only his “feet”, meaning that it was still at the lower level of kavod. Thus, ever since Avraham went down to Egypt, the trait of kavod of the Jewish people has been lowered from its elevated status. Even when the Jewish people went out of Egypt, there was still the presence of the Erev Rav (the Mixed Multitude) who came with them, and this detracted from the kavod of the Jewish people.

As it was explained here, after Avraham came back from Egypt, the trait of kavod was still at the level of k’veidus, “heaviness”, for the Torah says that Avraham’s feet had become “heavy” with gold and silver.

Years later, Yaakov Avinu continued the process of elevating the trait of kavod. The Torah says that Rachel and Leah told Yaakov, “From our father comes all this honor”, and this is the first time where the Torah uses the word kavod. Rashi explains that this “honor” was referring to all of the honorable wealth of gold and silver of Lavan. Just as Avraham had come back from Egypt with feet that were heavy with gold and silver, so did Yaakov’s exit from Lavan include a wealth of gold and silver. Rashi says that when Yaakov ran away from Lavan, he “stole Lavan’s heart”.[7] The word “Lavan” is from the words lev nun, a hint that Yaakov took the lev/heart of Lavan. Yaakov “took” the “heart” of Lavan, and many years later, at the exodus from Egypt, the Jewish people “took” the remaining letter, the letter nun, because we had almost hit the “50^th gate of impurity” in Egypt (which corresponds to the letter nun). Thus, Yaakov “took” the lev/heart of Lavan, and on a deeper level this meant that when Yaakov left Lavan, the trait of kavod had now been elevated from the feet to the heart.

The trait of kavod had fallen to the level of the “feet” when Avraham went down to Egypt, and it was elevated a little by Yaakov when he came back from Lavan, where it had been elevated higher, to the level of the “heart”. But kavod will still not completely elevated, for it was not yet at the highest point, the “head”.

When Yaakov went down to Egypt to see Yosef, Yosef said to Yaakov, “All of my honor is in Egypt”. This meant that Yosef elevated the fallen trait of kavod which had taken place in Egypt, and he elevated it to the level of the head. This is also why Yosef is called the “head” of his brothers (in the blessing of Yaakov)[8]. When Yosef said “All of my honor is in Egypt”, Yosef was not simply telling Yaakov that he had a lot of kavod in Egypt, because what difference did it make if he had more or less kavod in Egypt?! What Yosef meant was that he had released the fallen kavod in Egypt and elevated it. Yosef not only elevated the trait of kavod to the heart – when Pharoah’s heart was “stolen” in his admiration for Yosef), but he had elevated the trait of kavod back to its rightful place, the “head”.

This laid the roots of elevating the fallen trait of kavod in the Jewish people.

The Exile and Redemption of Kavod/Honor

The Sages teach that the exodus from Egypt was through the triad of three righteous people: Moshe, Aharon and Miriam. The redeemer of the Jewish people, Moshe, was born from the reunion of the marriage of Amram and Yocheved [upon the urging of Miriam]. The Sages teach that Yocheved was called so because she was a radiance of the kavod elyon, the “Higher Glory”, which is otherwise known as the kisei haKavod, the Throne of Glory, the glory of Hashem. Thus, Moshe, the child of Yocheved, was the offspring of a person whose spiritual radiance was of this higher kavod. Our exile in Egypt was essentially a fallen state of our kavod, and the exodus from Egypt was through the revelation of the kavod, through Moshe, who came from the higher kavod (Yocheved), so the redemption from Egypt was essentially the redemption of our kavod.

Esav’s Honor vs. Yaakov’s Honor

Yitzchok’s eyes were blind, and Yaakov’s eyes became heavy with old age, as the Torah says, “And the eyes of Yisrael became heavy from old age”[9]. According to one interpretation in Chazal, this meant that Yaakov saw that there were evil offspring who would come from Ephraim and Menashe, and therefore his eyes became heavy upon him. According to a different interpretation of Chazal, it was because the kavod (honor) of Yaakov had been damaged, and therefore Yaakov had k’veydus (heaviness) in his eyes. Let us now analyze the second interpretation, which has relevance to our current discussion.

Chazal teach that Yaakov was punished for not fulfilling the mitzvah of kibud av v’aim (honoring parents) for the extra 2 years that he stayed by Lavan, when he should have gone back to them to honor them, whereas Esav was careful with the mitzvah of kibud av v’aim.[10] Chazal state that as a punishment for not fulfilling kibud av v’aim, Yaakov’s eyes became heavy with old age, due to the damage in his trait of kavod, since he failed to show proper kavod to his parents. Why did his eyes become “heavy” as a punishment for not showing enough kavod to his parents? It is because k’veydus (heaviness) results from the lowering of kavod.

The kveidus (heaviness) which had a detrimental effect on Yaakov’s eyes, a result of his impaired kavod, was challenged by the kibud av v’aim that Esav excelled in.

The Sages teach that Esav is the impaired element of fire. The trait of kavod (honor) comes from the soul’s element of fire. Hence, when Esav showed proper kavod to his parents, Esav revealed a good, repaired level of kavod, where Yaakov hadn’t. This gave Esav an advantage over Yaakov.  

When Yaakov blessed his sons, he cursed the anger of Shimon and Levi for waging war with Shechem, and he criticized them for acting like Esav, and he said that he did not want his “honor” mentioned in the Torah by their descendants: Zimri (who came from Shimon) and Korach (who came from Levi). The deeper meaning behind this was because since Shimon and Levi acted like Esav, and Esav had shown greater honor of parents than Yaakov did.

Birkas Kohanim Repairs The Heaviness In Yaakov’s Eyes

In the blessing of the Kohanim (who come from Levi), there is a halachah that one must not see the Kohanim raising their hands during the blessings, because it is forbidden to gaze at the Shechinah, and the Shechinah is present with the Kohanim when they bless (this was the case in the times of the Beis HaMikdash, but it also remains on some level even today).

The depth of this is as follows. As explained earlier, Yaakov’s trait of kavod had fallen when he failed in the mitzvah of kibbud av v’aim and Esav was better at him with regards to kibbud av v’aim, and therefore Yaakov’s eyes became “heavy” from old age. But in Birkas Kohanim, there is also “heaviness” in a person’s eyes, in the sense that a person is not allowed to lift his eyes and see the Kohanim during the blessing. This “heaviness” of the eyes is not due to any ruination, but because of the revelation of the Shechinah that is there. It is a kind of “heaviness” in the eyes that is for the purpose of holiness, to avoid gazing at the Shechinah. Thus, Birkas Kohanim is the repair for the “heaviness” that was in Yaakov’s eyes in his old age.

The Elevation and Subsequent Fall of our Kavod/Honor

As it has been mentioned thus far, at the exodus from Egypt, our trait of kavod was redeemed from exile. Our kavod was elevated from its fallen, impaired state, from k’veidus (heaviness), to kavod. The exile of Egypt had been the “descent” of our trait of kavod, and in turn, the exodus from Egypt brought with it the elevation and revelation of our trait of kavod. This led us further to the revelation of the complete kavod, which was the revelation of the glory of Hashem that was at Har Sinai, at the giving of the Torah.

The purpose of everything in Creation was to lead the Jewish people into the level of the giving of the Torah, which repaired the ruined state of Creation, ever since the first sin when Creation had been ruined. After the sin with the golden calf, we fell from the exalted spiritual level that we were on at the giving of the Torah, and we fell back into the state of sin, the ruined state of Creation. But at the giving of the Torah, there was a revelation of our true kavod. At that point, the “fire” of our trait of kavod was able to rise above, and become elevated to its true place.

After the sin with the golden calf, Moshe requested of Hashem, “Show me, please, Your glory”.[11] Hashem answered that He did not want to show Him His “Glory”, because it was a time of hester panim (concealment), when He conceals the revelation of His Glory. Thus, had Hashem not shown hester panim at that time, Moshe would have seen the kavod of Hashem. This was because the sin with the golden calf caused the Jewish people to descend back into the state of the first sin, which was caused by laying sight on the fruits of the forbidden tree, the Eitz HaDaas. Therefore, Moshe was not allowed to “see” the glory of Hashem, because ever since Adam and Chavah laid their eyes on the fruits of the Eitz HaDaas, the sense of sight became spiritually damaged.

The Clouds of Glory – The “Peace” Between Fire and Water

The last two letters of the Hebrew word “kavod” are the letters daled and vov, which can be rearranged to spell the word “dav”, which means “double”. The remaining letters are the letters chaf and beis, which is equal to 22, a hint to the 22 letters of the aleph beis. This is a hint that the concept of kavod reveals two different sets of 22 letters of the aleph beis.

The Sages teach that Creation was made with the 22 letters of the aleph beis. The Sages also taught that Betzalel knew how to combine the 22 letters which the Creation was made with, and therefore he knew the wisdom of how to build the Mishkan, the place which revealed the kavod of Hashem on the world. Hence, there is a connection between kavod and the 22 letters of the aleph beis.  The two different “sets” of the 22 letters of the aleph beis, represented by the concept of kavod, correspond to Heaven (where the element of fire resides) and to This World (where the element of water resides).

In the desert, there were three miracles: the manna, the clouds of glory, and the well. The Sages teach that the manna was in the merit of Moshe, the clouds of glory were in Aharon’s merit, and the well was in Miriam’s merit.[12] When we were redeemed from Egypt, our trait of kavod was also redeemed (as explained earlier), and this allowed for the “clouds of glory” to be revealed, for the clouds of glory represented the complete, redeemed level of kavod.

Clouds are formed from the element of water. Glory (kavod) comes from the element of fire. The clouds of glory therefore served to combine together the elements of fire and water. This is because the clouds of glory represent the complete trait of kavod, and the word kavod hints to du chaf beis, a “double” pair of two different sets of 22 letters of the aleph beis. This “pair” is the 22 letters of the aleph beis on This World, which corresponds to the element of water, and the 22 letters of the aleph beis in Heaven, which corresponds to the element of fire. The clouds of glory combined them together.

The root of all 22 letters of the aleph beis is in the three active elements, which are wind, water, and fire. (On a deeper note, the 22 letters of the aleph beis are rooted in the 4 letters of havayah, but that is not what we are discussing here). The wind, or the air, was the first element to be created. But on our world, the element of wind was placed “between” the elements of fire and water, to serve as the middle point between fire and water, and to mitigate these two opposing elements.

We can see this from the clouds of glory, which was a form of air that connected together fire (kavod/glory) and water (in the form of clouds). The clouds of glory were in Aharon’ merit, and Aharon loved and pursued peace, and so did the clouds of glory make “peace” between the elements of fire and water.

The Depth Behind Impaired Kavod/Honor

Earlier it was explained that when the trait of kavod/honor “falls” down to the level of the liver, it becomes the ruined, impaired kavod. In contrast, when one’s trait of kavod rises from the liver to the heart, and finally, to the head, it becomes repaired.

Kavod becomes impaired when it is lowered to the liver, because the liver is in the lower section of the body, which corresponds to the element of water, the lowest element in the body. The trait of kavod/honor, which is a product of the element of fire, is meant to be at the highest place in the body, which is the head. When kavod “falls” from the head, from the place in the body where the element of fire is, and down to the lowest section of the body, where the element of water is, the trait of kavod falls from its elevated state, from the element of fire, and down to the element of water.

The nature of the element of water is that it descends from a high place to a lower place, even though it comes from above. In contrast to this, the element of fire comes from below and desires to rise above. The Sages teach that “Hashem desired to have a dwelling below”.[13] Above in Heaven, there is fire and water together, where there is a revelation of the kavod of Hashem, where there are “clouds of glory”, and the kisei haKavod, “throne of glory”. But below, on this earth, water and fire cannot be together. On this world, water descends and does not yearn to rise above, whereas fire yearns to return to above.

What happens, as a result? The water stays where it is below, and when fire does not rise, the fire and water will be at odds with each other, each trying to overcome the other. In the lower section of the body, the water descends to below, but when the “fire” in the liver isn’t rising above and it remains in the liver, the fire and water will clash with each other, each vying for the same section of the body.

When “Hashem desires to have a dwelling below”, not only does He have a desire (so to speak) to dwell in the highest point of the body (the head), where the element of fire is, where fire and water can be combined (representing Heaven), but He desires to have His Presence settle even in the lowest section of the body, where the element of water cannot co-exist with the element of fire, where the element of water remains apart from the element of fire.

Why A Person Seeks Kavod/Honor On This World

Based upon the above, we can now see where the demand for kavod (honor) comes from.

Evil, impaired kavod/honorremoves a person from the world, for the Sages teach that “Jealousy, lust and honor-seeking remove a person from the world.”[14] As it was explained here, evil and impaired kavod is coming from the liver, when one’s element of “fire” remains in the liver. What is the depth of this? It is because when one seeks honor, he desires to rise above, but when he does not belong on the higher level or at the higher status that he wishes to be on, he is trying to rise to a place that isn’t his. This is when the desire for kavod is evil, and that is what we have been explaining until now.

However, according to what we have just explained, the trait of kavod is able to descend from the head to the liver: When one’s element of fire “falls” from the highest point of the body, the head, down to the lower section of the body, where the liver is. Here, the fire hasn’t just remained in the liver, it has fallen down from the head to the liver. Because of this, we find that a person may also seek kavod in a lower place than where he is!

Kavod is therefore not limited to seeking a higher status. A person may seek honor even from a lower point. That is the depth behind why a person might seek kavod from the lowly, material world. This is not only because a person wishes to be honored on this world and to feel “above” everyone on this world. That is the simple understanding of kavod. From a deeper perspective, a person may also seek honor from below.

This is also, on a deeper level, because “Hashem desires to have a dwelling below”, and therefore a person may feel a desire to be honored on This World, because his trait of kavod is impaired and therefore he is experiencing this desire from Above to “dwell below”, but in a way that is twisted for an evil use.

Kavod/Honor and Shalom/Peace

Based upon the above, we can also understand the following insight.

Chazal state that there were more people crying over Aharon’s death than by Moshe’s death. Thus, Aharon received more honor at his funeral than Moshe did. This is because the complete level of kavod/honor was revealed with Aharon, in whose merit there were clouds of glory, which represent the entire idea of kavod/honor.

Chazal explain that Aharon merited greater honor at his funeral because of his trait of pursuing shalom, peace, between man and his friend, and between man and his wife. Hence, there is a connection between kavod/honor and shalom/peace. From this we can learn that kavod is good and holy only where there is some desire for peace [Soon we will explain this].

Aharon sought to make shalom/peace between everyone in the world, and this was because he wanted to reveal the kavod (glory) of Hashem on this world, by way of bringing everything in Creation together. Therefore, Aharon’s positive trait of shalom/peace was a revelation of the complete level of kavod, the glory of Hashem.

How The Kavod/Honor of Esav Is Countered By The Shalom/Peace of Aharon HaKohen

The Baal HaTurim says that the gematria (numerical value in Hebrew) of the word “Esav” is “shalom”. What does this mean? Esav certainly didn’t pursue peace into the world. The meaning of it is that Esav represents the impaired level of shalom, preciselybecause Esav failed to pursue shalom. Esav excelled in the trait of kavod/honor, by honoring his parents, and kavod is related to shalom. However, while Esav repaired the trait of kavod, he failed when it came to shalom. Therefore, Esav ruined his trait of shalom, by failing to complete his trait of kavod with the trait of shalom.

Esav is also known as “the impaired element of fire”. Esav’s trait of kavod, which comes from the element of fire, was ultimately impaired. Esav’s skilled hunting was due to the special garments which were passed down from Adam HaRishon, and clothing is a form of kavod, because Esav personified kavod. However, this clothing was used for evil purposes, hence his “kavod” ultimately was ruined and evil.

Esav sought to reveal the holy trait of kavod, by being especially careful when it came to kibud av v’aim, honoring his father and mother[15], but he did not reveal seek any shalom. Therefore, even his great kavod which he had perfected so much (by honoring his parents) was ultimately impaired by his failure to pursue shalom, which would have made his kavod complete. Instead, his trait of kavod didn’t amount to anything, because his kavod did not lead to shalom. Hence, kavod without shalom is impaired kavod.

Where Esav had failed to reveal shalom within his kavod, Aharon HaKohen revealed kavod which led to shalom, by bringing peace between people and thereby revealing the kavod of Hashem on this world.

Hence, if there is no revelation of shalom/peace, there cannot be a revelation of kavod/honor. When there is shalom/peace, only then can there be a revelation of proper kavod/honor. Therefore, the power of the kibud av v’aim which Esav showed would not last. Certainly Esav received reward for his kibud av v’aim, as Hashem does not hold back reward from anyone who fulfills His will. But Esav did not reveal the true and complete level of kavod, because he did not seek shalom.

Why is kavod complete only when it leads to shalom? This is because trait of kavod/honor comes from the element of fire, and it was explained earlier that kavod is when fire and water harmonize. In other words, kavod is only when there is shalom, “peace”, between the opposing elements of fire and water. But when there is no shalom, when the elements of fire and water cannot harmonize, there cannot be kavod.

Kavod (Honor) Is Holy Only When One Honors a Relationship or Connection

Thus, since kavod is only constructive when it leads to shalom, the entire idea of kavod is to combine and harmonize together many different parts of Creation.

Kavod is holy only when it is about fostering peace, connection, and unifying. Therefore, kavod becomes impaired when one is seeking connection with others only for the sake of receiving honor, not for the sake of increasing peace and harmony with others.

Clothing is called the kavod of a person. This is the lowest form of kavod for a person, but it is still a kind of kavod. A higher level of kavod than this is the kavod of the body, which is also called kavod. A higher level of kavod than this is the neshamah, which is also referred to as kavod. Higher than the kavod of the neshamah is the Shechinah, which is also called kavod. This is because the meaning of kavod is when all the many different parts of Creation are combined and unified together. Kavod is the perspective in which everything is combined together. The clothing, the body, the soul, and the Shechinah are all meant to become unified together, hence they are all called kavod.

Therefore, based upon the above, the mitzvah to honor parents is not simply to honor them. Since kavod is about revealing a connection and combination between many different parts, the mitzvah to honor parents is about giving “honor” to the relationship that exists between a parent and a child. The mitzvah to honor parents applies whether the parents are alive or deceased, because kavod is about honoring the connection that one has to another [hence this connection does not depend on the parents being alive or not, because there is always the parent-child connection].

Showing kavod is therefore not just about honoring that someone or something, it is about showing honor to the connection that one has with someone or with something.

Analyzing Our Desire For Kavod/Honor

Therefore, whenever a person desires to receive kavod from another person, the question he should ask himself is: Why exactly do I want kavod from the other person? When Reuven wishes that Shimon should give him more kavod, from where exactly is this motivation coming from? Does Reuven want kavod for the sake of the kavod itself? Or does he want to get kavod from Shimon because he wants to be connected with Shimon, so that he can thereby have more peace with Shimon?

If a person wants kavod for its own sake, with no greater purpose other than just wanting kavod, this is the evil desire for kavod. But if one wants kavod from another person because this will be a means for him to have shalom with the other person, this is good and proper kavod.

The holy use of kavod, which is when a person wants kavod as a means to attain shalom with another, is also called the kavod of the Torah sages, of which it is said, “Peace they inherit.”[16] The Gemara says that Torah scholars bring peace into the world because they are called bonim, “builders”[17], and the word bonim can also mean “children”, because just as children  honor their parents and thereby bring peace to the world, so do Torah scholars bring peace in the world by revealing the correct kind of honor.

That is the depth behind kavod.

In Conclusion

As explained here, the trait of kavod/honor, in its repaired and holy form, is the concept of combining and unifying together all the different parts of creation.

Based upon this, we can now understand that the verse “All is called in My honor” does not simply mean simply that everything in Creation is called the honor of Hashem, but that everything in Creation is meant to reveal the honor of Hashem, because every part of Creation is meant to become united under the one unit of Hashem’s honor. One needs to “demand” kavod only for the sake of combining together everything into one unit.

The Sages teach that “Hashem’s Name is not complete and His Throne is not complete, until Amalek is erased.[18] This is because Amalek prevents the kavod of Hashem from being revealed upon the world, by causing divisiveness in the world, and therefore all the many parts of Creation cannot become unified together, as long as Amalek exists. Only when Amalek ceases will there be shalom (peace), and then there can be the revelation of the true and complete kavod (honor) which will allow for all of Creation to become unified together, revealing the glory of Hashem.

This true and complete level of kavod is also the depth behind the concept of “kavod Shabbos”, honoring the Shabbos, and this is also the meaning of a statement of the Sages, “There is no kavod (honor) except teshuvah (repentance/returning)”[19], because the purpose of the kavod of Hashem is to “return” all of the creations to Hashem. That is the true kavod. The verse “All is created in My honor” means that everything is meant to be returned to Hashem. That is the depth of kavod: to combine together all the parts of Creation. 

But there is also a more inner level to kavod. Not only must all parts of Creation become combined together, which is the idea of shalom/peace, but everything must be combined together and returned to their one Source, Who is shaleim, complete. Everything needs to be returned to Hashem’s honor. Shalom (peace) is the kavod (honor) that is within Creation, but there is only One who is shaleim (complete), and that is the Creator. When we “return” the kavod found on our lower realm – when we have shalom, which is represented by Aharon HaKohen, and we return this to the kavod found in the higher realm, the complete kavod, the honor of Hashem - this is the true, complete level of kavod.

Thus, kavod, on its deepest level, is the connecting point between all of the creations with their Creator. When one demands the true kavod, the kavod of one’s neshamah is connecting to the Shechinah, which is called kavod, and then there can be a true connection between all the many parts of Creation. When this level of kavod will be revealed completely, this will be the true, complete revelation of kavod. May it come speedily, in our days. Amen.