DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 4.33 MB)
Respecting One’s Stepparents; Respecting Siblings

Just as the Torah requires respecting one’s parents, so must one show respect to his parent’s spouse, even if the spouse is not his biological parent, as long as the parent is alive. The Gemara in Masechet Ketubot (103) infers this Halacha from the verse, "Kabed Et Abicha Ve’et Imecha" ("Respect your father and your mother"), as the word "Et" in the phrase "Et Abicha" alludes to one’s father’s spouse, and the word "Et" in the phrase "Et Imecha" alludes to one’s mother’s spouse.

After the parent passes on, one is not strictly required to continue respecting the parent’s spouse, but it is certainly proper to do so.

Furthermore, one is obligated to show respect to all his older siblings – both brothers and sisters. This applies even to older siblings with whom one shares only the same father or only the same mother. Even if a younger brother is a Torah scholar, he must show respect to his older siblings. According to some opinions, this obligation continues even after the parents are deceased.

Of course, the respect that is required for one’s older siblings is less than the respect that is required for one’s parent. Thus, for example, Hacham Ovadia Yosef writes in Halichot Olam (p. 163; listen to audio recording for precise citation) that one may call his older siblings by their first name, as opposed to parents, whom one may not call by their name. If an older brother is a Rabbi, the younger siblings should call him "Rabbi," but may use his first name. An example of the type of respect required for an older brother is standing when an older brother is called for an Aliya to the Torah in the synagogue.

The Kessef Mishneh (commentary to the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah by Maran Rav Yosef Karo, author of the Shulhan Aruch), commenting to the Rambam’s discussion in Hilchot Mamrim (end of chapter 6), writes that the requirement to respect older siblings was enacted by the Sages, and does not constitute a Torah obligation. This is as opposed to the requirement to respect stepparents, which is included in the Torah obligation of respecting parents. On this basis, Hacham Ovadia Yosef writes that if a conflict arises between these obligations, the respect owed to a stepparent supersedes the respect owed to an older sibling, as Torah obligations override those enacted by Hazal. And thus if one must choose between respecting one’s stepparent and respecting an older sibling – such if they have conflicting wishes, and one must choose one over the other – he should respect the stepparent.

Summary: The Torah obligation of respecting parents includes respecting a stepparent – one’s parent’s spouse who is not one’s biological parent. There is also a requirement enacted by the Sages to respect one’s older siblings, including both brothers and sisters, and including half-brothers and half-sisters. Nevertheless, one may call an older sibling by their name. Even a younger brother who is a Torah scholar must show respect to his older siblings.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Vestot – Separating From One’s Wife When She is Prone to Becoming a Nidda
Nidda – May a Woman Perform the Seventh Day Inspection After Sunset?
Drinking From One’s Wife’s Cup When She is a Nidda
Celebrating with a Bride and Groom
Bathing After Immersing in a Mikveh
Laws of Nidda: The Hefsek Tahara Inspection
May a Man and Woman Marry if Their Fathers or Mothers Have the Same Name?
Men Immersing in a Mikveh on Ereb Shabbat
Cleaning One's Teeth Before Immersing in the Mikveh
Sleeping in Separate Beds When the Wife is a Nidda and When She Can Expect to Become a Nidda
May a Husband and Wife Sit on Each Other's Bed or Use Each Other's Linens When She is Nida?
Is A Woman Permitted To Follow The Opinion Of A Doctor Who Diagnoses Her Blood As Stemming From A Wound or From Her Impurity
Celebrating With The Bride and Groom
Eating Meat on the Day of Immersion in a Mikveh; Immersing with Braces, a Retainer or Temporary Fillings
Must a Woman Lift Her Feet While Immersing in the Mikveh?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found