If a bird’s nest happens to be before you on the road, on a tree or on the ground - chicks or eggs - and the mother bird is roosting on the chicks or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother bird while she is on the young. You shall surely send away the mother bird and take the young for yourself, so that it will be good for you and you will prolong your days.
The Mishnah in Chulin (קמב ע"א) learns the following lesson from the fact that the Torah promises a great reward for the observance of the Mitzvah of Shiluach Hakein; ‘If in regards to an easy commandment [i.e. ‘Shiluach Hakein’] that at most involves the loss equivalent to an issar coin [for by sending away the mother bird, all one loses is a bird which at most is worth a mere issar coin] the Torah said, ‘You should perform it so that it will be good for you and you will prolong your days’, how much more so does this great reward apply to the difficult commandments in the Torah which involve toil and great expense’.
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Similar to the Mishnah in Chulin, the Yerushalmi in Peah (פ"א ה"א) also learns this very same lesson, that every Mitzvah has great reward, from the fact that the Torah promises great reward to anyone who observes either of these two Mitzvos, Shiluach Hakein or honoring one’s parents, and says as follows. ‘The Torah equated the most minor of Mitzvos to the most major of Mitzvos in regard to their reward. ‘The most minor of Mitzvos’ refers to the Mitzva of ‘Shiluach Hakein’, which is an easy and inexpensive Mitzva, while ‘the most major of Mitzvos’, refers to the Mitzva of honoring one’s father and mother, which can involve toil and expense. And in regards to both of them, the same reward is written, ‘And you will live long’, to teach us that the observance of any Mitzvah, whether minor or major, is equally guaranteed to engender great reward.
To begin with, we need to understand why the Yerushalmi would need to learn this lesson, that every Mitzvah earns great reward, from both Mitzvos together, and not from the Mitzvah of Shiluach Hakein alone, as the Gemara in Chulin seems to do. Additionally, we need to understand why the Torah felt it necessary to explicitly convey to us the great reward that one receives for honoring his parents, when this reward would have been inferred from the reward specified for the Mitzvah of Shiluach Hakein, just as the reward for all the Mitzvos are inferred from there.
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We can explain, that from the Mitzvah of Shiluach Hakein alone we would not be able to learn the lesson that all commandments alike will merit great reward, for although, indeed, the Mitzvah of Shiluach Hakein involves very little loss, not more than a mere issur coin, nevertheless there are Mitzvos that involve no loss at all, and therefore in regards to those Mitzvos we would be able to counter this lesson and say that perhaps only a Mitzvah which involves some loss earns great reward, while those Mitzvos that don’t involve any loss don’t procure any reward. The same can certainly be said in regards to the Mitzvah of honoring one’s parents, that from there alone we would not be able to learn this lesson, for honoring one’s parents can involve much toil and expense, and therefore this lesson would definitely be easily contested by the notion that perhaps only a Mitzvah which involves much effort and cost will merit great reward, while any Mitzvah which involves less effort and cost won’t earn much reward.
It is indeed to teach us this very lesson, that all Mitzvos will generate great reward, that the Torah specifically expressed the great reward for both of these Mitzvos, Shiluach Hakein and honoring one’s parents. For after learning about the great reward awarded to one who observes the Mitzvah of Shiluach Hakein, we can at least take for granted that any Mitzvah that involves even just a minimal loss will definitely gain the same reward. This would make us wonder, as we indeed questioned above, why the Torah would need to explicitly teach us that honoring one’s parents also gains great reward, when we would be able to easily learn its reward from the reward that the Torah allotted to those who observe the Mitzvah of Shiluach Hakein. Inevitably, we need to explain that when the Torah tells us the reward for honoring one’s parents, it is obviously discussing an instance where there is no cost or toil involved (i.e. serving one’s parents or standing up for them) and therefore its reward would not have been self-understood; hence the need for the Torah to explicitly tell us about its reward. After we understand that the Torah revealed to us that the observance of honoring one’s parents, even when it does not involve any cost, grants one great reward, we can go ahead and learn from that Mitzvah and its reward that every Mitzvah, even those who have no financial loss at all, will also merit great reward.
זרע שמשון פרשתנו אות ד
