רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן שַׁמּוּעַ אוֹמֵר, יְהִי כְבוֹד תַּלְמִידְךָ חָבִיב עָלֶיךָ כְּשֶׁלְּךָ, וּכְבוֹד חֲבֵרְךָ כְּמוֹרָא רַבְּךָ, וּמוֹרָא רַבְּךָ כְּמוֹרָא שָׁמָיִם:
R. Elazar ben Shamua says: Let the honor of your disciple be as beloved by you as your own. [For thus do we find with Moses. He said to Joshua, his disciple (Exodus 17:9) "Choose men for us," making him (Joshua) equivalent to himself"], and the honor of your fellow as the fear of your master, [Aaron saying to Moses (Numbers 12:11): "Pray, my master." Although he (Aaron) was his (Moses') elder brother, he called him "my master"], and the fear of your teacher as the fear of Heaven, [Joshua saying to Moses (Ibid. 11:28): "My master, Moses, 'finish them' (from the world.)" Since they have rebelled against you, it is as if they have rebelled against the Holy One Blessed be He and they deserve to be destroyed.]
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
בחר לנו אנשים. Rashi sees in the word לנו proof that Moses equated Joshua with himself in this task. The Rabbis deduced from this a rule that a teacher should always be as concerned with the honour of his student as with his own. The honour of someone of equal status to oneself, however, should be placed on a par with the honour of one's teacher. The source for this is found in Numbers 12,11 where Aaron, Moses' older brother, addresses him with the words: בי אדוני, "Please my lord!" The honour of one's teacher should be treated as equivalent to the honour of G–d Himself. We derive this from Numbers 11,28 where Joshua pleads with Moses to kill Eldod and Meydod for prophesying the death of Moses. The words used are: אדוני משה כלאם. Joshua felt that insubordination against his teacher Moses deserved the same penalty as insubordination against G–d Himself. We can now understand why we are taught in Avot 4,1: "Who is truly honoured? He who honours G–d's creatures."
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