The love of parents towards their child should find an echo in the heart of the latter.
The child’s love of his parents finds expression in willing, cheerful obedience; in the endeavour to do everything that pleases them, in the sacrifice made for the purpose of giving them pleasure, in the assistance given them when, through age, sickness, or misfortune, they are in need of aid.
The parents’ duty towards the child is to do everything that true love demands, for his physical, moral, and intellectual well-being.
With regard to the child’s duty towards his parents the following verses from Proverbs may be noticed:—
“The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it” (xxx. 17). [[306]]
“Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression, the same is the companion of a destroyer” (xxviii. 24).
“Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness” (xx. 20).
“He that wasteth his father and chaseth away his mother is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach” (xix. 26).
“The glory of children are their fathers” (xvii. 6).
2. All other special duties towards our fellow-men may be divided into (i.) Duties towards our equals; (ii.) Duties towards our superiors and towards our inferiors.
(i.) Duties towards our Equals.
(1.) A bond of friendship frequently exists between equals.
Friends have certain duties to fulfil towards each other. It is expected that friends should have faith in their mutual friendship. “As in water face answereth to face, so in the heart man answereth to man” (Prov. xxvii. 19). As the water reflects the face of him who looks into it, so the heart of man reflects the friendship and faithfulness of him who has penetrated into it. Our estimation of our friend’s feeling toward us is the measure of the genuineness and value of our own friendship towards him.
Disinterestedness is an essential condition of genuine friendship. Every service we render to our friend must be prompted by the desire to be of use to him. [[307]]and not to advance our own interest. If any other motive enters our mind, if we speculate on his gratitude, and think that our kindness must eventually be returned with interest, we have no knowledge or feeling of friendship. Thus our Sages declare, “Friendship dictated by a selfish motive comes to an end together with the speculation; but friendship which is not based on any selfish motive comes never to an end. An instance of the first kind is the friendship between Amnon and Tamar (2 Sam. xiii.); of the second kind, the friendship between David and Jonathan (1 Sam. xviii.)” (Aboth v. 16).