איש אמו ואביו תיראו
Reverence and fear (which is the literal translation of tirah) are closely related. I think fear born of reverence is unlike fear which is the result of retribution. Thus, one is to fear his/her parents through the lens of reverence and esteem in which he holds them. This mitzvah prohibits anything negative, such as sitting in a parents’ seat, contradicting or interrupting them. One should act toward a parent in much the same manner in which he respects a monarch. The Torah should have simply written: Your father and mother shall you revere. Why does the Torah add ish, every…