22 Aug PARSHAS KI SEITZEI: THE “EASIEST OF THE EASY” AND THE “HARDEST OF THE HARD”

This week’s Parsha,
contains the mitzvah of
‘Shiluch HaKen.’ The
Torah commands us
that when one finds a
mother bird nesting on
her eggs, if he wants to
take the small birds he must first send
away the mother. Only then is he allowed
to take the children for himself [Devarim
22:6-7].
The pasuk [verse] concludes that if one
keeps this mitzvah it will be good for him
and he will have length of days. There is
only one other mitzvah in the Torah,
which carries this same reward. That is
the mitzvah of Kibud Av v’Em.
The Medrash comments on the fact that
both the “easiest of the easy” (kal
she’bekalos) and the “most difficult of the
difficult” (chamur she’bechamuros) have
the same reward — length of days. This
teaches us, says the Medrash, that we do
not really know the reward of the
commandments.
Why is the sending away of the mother

bird referred to as the easiest of mitzvot
and why is honoring one’s parents referred
to as the most difficult of mitzvot?
The sefer Shemen HaTov suggests the
following:
The Ramba”n on the Torah tells us that
the reason the Torah gave us the mitzvah
of Shiluach HaKen was to train us in the
attribute of mercy. He takes pains to
explain that this does not mean that G-d
necessarily has mercy on the animals;
what it does mean is that G-d is concerned
that we should be compassionate people.
We should train ourselves in compassion.
If one is trained to be compassionate even
to a bird, this will carry over and he will
be compassionate to human beings as
well.
If that is the case, this mitzvah is called
the easiest of the easy because it is
consistent with human nature. We can all
relate to this mitzvah. We can all relate to
the suffering a mother bird would feel if
her children were taken away before her
very eyes. We can understand its rationale.
Therefore, it is an easy mitzvah to fulfill.

If this is correct, it
would follow that
Kibud Av is spoken
of as the most
difficult of mitzvos
because it goes
AGAINST human
emotions.
Why does Kibud
Av v’Em run
against human
emotions? Because,
the Rishonim tell us
that the basis of the
mitzvah of Kibud Av v’em is the concept
of Hakaras HaTov — showing gratitude.
We, as human beings, do not like to show
gratitude. Showing gratitude to someone
is acknowledging that we needed that
person. Our egos do not want to let us
believe that.
We want to think that we are independent
and can do things ourselves. To show
appreciation means that the other person
was needed. Even if it is possible to show

appreciation to a stranger and say “Thank-
you” for an occasional favor, appreciating

parents involves dealing with the fact that,
in essence, we owe EVERYTHING to our
parents. Our very life was dependent on
them. That is difficult to admit. It is
difficult for us to say, “I owe you
everything.”
That is why Kibud Av v’Em is “chamur
she’bechamuros” — because it goes
against everything that we would like to
believe, as opposed to Shiluach HaKen
which runs in concert with human
emotions.