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Judaism has always taught that sons and daughters must honor their parents. First encountered in the Ten Commandments, this teaching has remained characteristic of the Jewish ethos through out the ages. Indeed, if the mores of the Jewish family merit special discussion, the responsibility of children toward parents must be isolated as a sensitive central value. This book describes and analyzes the teaching of filial responsibility and respect in Judaism. Inasmuch as the Jewish thrust has been to concretize and specify, to detail and debate, the honoring of parents was translated into the pattern and process of family life. How does one honor parents? What is expected of a son and a daughter? When is parental authority legitimate, and when is it not? What do halakhists and moralists say on the issue? And since we are dealing with a paradigm of Jewish thought and action, we must also confront the tensions between feeling and doing, loving and obeying, honoring and serving. Finally, what is the significance of this ethic? With full awareness of the historical setting and milieu, this book treats the dynamic of an idea that exists as a social reality. Honor Thy Father and Mother will be valuable for sociologists and historians, for students of ethics and law. Moreover, since the commandment to honor parents is part of Christian Scripture as well as Jewish, the significance of this book goes far beyond the Jewish community, and it should be of interest to readers of all faiths. Ultimately, in fact, the book should appeal to all men and women, for all of us are sons and daughters, and many of us are, or will be parents.