Respect for the Older Brother

Is one obligated to respect an older brother after the death of their parents? And is this specifically for the eldest brother, or is the third brother obligated to respect the second brother?

One is obligated even after the death of their parents, and the third brother is required to respect even the second brother.

The Gemara, Tractate Ketubot, page 103, states: "At the time of Rabbi's passing, he said: I need my sons, his sons entered him. He said to them: Be careful with the honor of your mother; let the lamp be lit in its place, the table set in its place, the bed made in its place; Yosef Hafni, Shimon Efrati, they served me in life and they will serve me in death. Be careful with the honor of your mother. It is a Torah commandment as it is written: Honor your father and your mother. It was a stepmother. A stepmother is also a Torah commandment, as it is taught: Honor your father and your mother, your father means your father's wife, and your mother means your mother's husband, and the additional letter includes your older brother. This applies during life, but not after death. And the words of the Gemara that one is not obligated after death, are apparently referring to the stepmother.

In Pitchei Teshuva, Yoreh Deah, Siman 240, Seif Katan 18, a dispute is brought between the Rambam and the Ramban in the Sefer Hashorashim whether one is obligated to respect their older brother even after the death of their father and mother, or not, because the reason for respect is only due to the honor of the father and mother, like with the stepmother, and one is only obligated to respect him as long as the father and mother are alive, and from the words of the Shulchan Aruch, which did not write a distinction in this, it seems that he was stringent even after death, and so ruled in Birkei Yosef.

And regarding the second brother, whether the third brother is obligated to respect him. Shut Shevut Yaakov, Part 1, Siman 76, wrote: "For this reason, it seems to me that it was rightly ruled in the response of Halachot Ketanot, Siman 123, that one is only obligated to respect the older brother who is the first, and not the second, even if he is older in years, and the reason seems to me because he does not inherit the greatness of the father."

However, the Chida in his book Birkei Yosef disagreed and wrote: "One is obligated to respect all older siblings, male and female, even after the death of father and mother. And this seems according to the simple meaning of the words of the decisors, and according to the path of truth as written by Rabbeinu Ari, of blessed memory."

See Azmera Leshimcha 191.