In today's daf we are told that the brothers of Yosef stood aside to let Yosef bury Yaakov because he was "royalty." Our maggid shiur likened this to a community which may have certain people who are "better equipped" (financially) to take on the task of greeting a gadol or being asked to somehow represent the community - as Yosef did. I found this disturbing. A person who is neither wealthy enough or a gadol in learning should not be made to sit on the sidelines simply because they don't have the "means." I guess this is the reality much to my disappointment. Comments? Thank you and Yaasher Koach.
sam schneider, passaic, new jersey USA
(1) I think it is fairly obvious that if the community wants to honor people then it makes sense that they would chose honorable individuals to do this. However I will just try and put forward one or two Torah thoughts about what is genuine honor.
(2) Chazal say (Pirkei Avos 6:3) "There is no honor other than Torah". Avos 6:5 also states that Torah is greater than royalty (i.e. wealth) because Torah is acquired through 48 virtues while royalty is acquired through 30. We find in the Gemara that many of the greatest Sages were very poor, but they still represented the summit of the Jewish nation (see for instance Yoma 35b which relates how poor Hillel was and how he attained his greatness through his incredible personal self-sacrifice for Torah).
(3) Another point to bear in mind is that it is not merely intellectual achievement which decides the Torah's standard of honor. See Kidushin 33b that states "Rav Yechezkel is different because he is a 'Ba'al Ma'asim' - a man of great deeds", and therefore one must honor him. The Ran (14a in the Rif pages) explains that the reason the Torah commands us to honor Talmidei Chachamim is because wisdom brings to good deeds, but the ultimate purpose is good deeds. See also the Maharsha (Avodah Zarah end 3a) that fear of sin comes before wisdom. So even if somebody is not born with a great brain he can still merit honor through his working on his Yir'as Shamayim. In addition it is well-known that many of the great sages were not born with great talents but attained their merits simply through lots of sweat.
(4) Finally according to Torah values, a person should not look too hard for honor. Eruvin 13b tells us that whoever runs away from greatness - greatness runs after him. The ideal is that a person should usually try and be modest and retiring.
[I am not claiming that we always live up to the above ideals but they do give us the guidelines at least of what we should be aiming for].
KOL TUV
Dovid Bloom