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Mr. David and Rabbi Israel on Board the “Special” Bus

It’s been a long day at the office, and Mr. David considers himself lucky to have found a seat on the SBS bus that will take him on his long homeward commute. Just as the bus is about to pull out, Rabbi Israel, a respected individual and magid shiur (Torah class leader) in Mr. David’s neighborhood, boards the bus, a large sefer in hand. Mr. David stands up out of respect for the elderly and scholarly Rabbi, and then is left in a quandary. Should he sit back down, or is he required to offer the Rabbi his seat and stand the whole way home?

“Mipnei seivah takum, v'hadarta p'nei zaken.” (You shall rise up before the elder, and you shall honor the Torah scholar.) In Parashas Acharei Mos, the Torah bids us to stand up out of respect for an elderly person or a talmid chacham (Torah scholar). Does this also require giving up a seat for them? And if so, why?

There is the negative appellation called out by Chazal of naval b’reshus HaTorah (acting repulsively with [seeming] permission of the Torah) regarding a person who acts without common decency, while defending themselves that their obnoxious action is not clearly prohibited by Torah law. Chazal and poskim do not specifically designate a person who allows an elderly, scholarly person to stand throughout a journey as such, but it might certainly be categorized so.

Additionally, there is a possibility of chillul Hashem (desecration of Hashem’s name) that can result from such actions. Other commuters may consider it disrespectful for a younger person stand up for an elder—yet take the seat for themselves.

Whereas both the above possible halachic sources should thwart a quick “rise and reseat” by the younger person, we find an explicit directive from an eighteenth century authority, the Chida, who states in his sefer, Nachal Kedumim, that offering a seat to an elderly or scholarly person is a corollary of “mipnei seivah takum.” In addition, there are poskim who maintain that as long as the elderly and/or scholarly person remains standing in front of him, the younger may not sit down.

The score settled on all counts, Mr. David remains standing and inclines his head to the Rabbi, touching his sleeve to get his attention and pointing to the now-empty seat. “Thank you,” Rabbi Israel murmurs, briefly smiling at his sometimes-student before taking the seat and reburying his head in his sefer.