THE ETHICS OF AGING

be no legal penalties for such callous conduct, yet when the admonition to fear God is attached to a mitzvah, as it is at the conclusion of our verse, it refers to the right disposition of the heart and forcefully reminds the Jew that punishment for derelictions of the heart remains with God .

Rendering respect to a sage is inappropriate in a privy or the interior of a bathhouse, because respect involves hiddur as well as kimah, and the former can be shown only to one who is fully clothed. The Talmud prescribes that honor can be rendered(apart from out-of doors) in a structure suitable for a mezuzah,”” and a bathhouse does not qualify for a mezuzah because it is not a permanent residence.” Deference may be extended in the outer chambers of the bathhouse, however, on the assumption that the patrons have not yet disrobed.”

The only reference to women I have encountered in the litera­ture is in Arukh ha-Shulchan.”® There, Epstein writes that the wife of a scholar is entitled to honor during her husband’s lifetime. After this death, it is fitting to accord her a measure of respect(k'tzat hiddur).

A non-Jewish elder(designated variously as eved Kokhavim, zaken qoi, or zaken Kushi) is to be addressed courteously, defer­entially, with hiddur conveyed orally. There is no requirement to rise in his presence, although the 7ur prescribes half-rising.*’

De Minimis non curat lex,“The law is not concerned with trifles.” So, the maxim of the Common Law . On the surface, any dis­cussion touching on whether one class of people enjoys a legal or moral right to expect deference from members of other classes appears trivial, unworthy of serious debate. Curmudgeons who are deliberately discourteous neither threaten the lives nor abridge the personal liberties of those to whom they are ungracious. Yet, perhaps

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