Wise Fridays: The Most Difficult Commandment

Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai taught: The Holy One has [only] revealed the reward for obeying two commandments in the Torah: one of them is the least difficult, and the other is the most difficult.

The least difficult concerns letting the mother-bird go when chancing on her nest –- with regard to it, the Torah promises that you will fare well and have a long life. The most difficult concerns honoring one’s father and mother -– with regard to it also, the Torah promises “that you may live long and that you may fare well.” So the two commandments are alike in the reward received in this world for their observance.

– Tanhuma Eikev 2

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