Preparing video...
0:00 / 0:00

Big Mitzvot vs Small Mitzvot

316 views
Rabbi Yaron Reuven Short Torah Clips avatar
Rabbi Yaron Reuven Short Torah Clips

Transcript

Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.

So the question is if there's big mitzvot and small mitzvot or all the mitzvot the same. Uh so a couple things number one rai writes in the Mishna that we don't calculate the value of every uh mitzvah as far as which one is bigger than the next. uh because we don't actually truly understand the significance of even the smallest mitzvah and how much reward a person gets for it or how much punishment a person gets for violating it. Uh the only thing that we can judge off of is based on the consequences that are reported in the Torah. So the consequences for let's say eating a uh non-cooser are you know just it's not a death penalty. It's malot gets whipped at the time of the sun of course. Uh whereas the consequences for murder intentional murder is death penalty. Consequences of driving on Shabbat is also death penalty. It's even worse than murder. So we see from there that number one violating Shabbat and and and murdering is much more significant in the eyes of Hashem than than uh eating non-cosher. but also that violating Shabbat is more significant than murder. So again, that may not make sense to the uh uh the rationale of a person that doesn't learn Torah, but that's again you have we always have to be reminded that this is the rationale of the divine. This is a rational and you know to understand them you have to be him. We have to simply accept it. This is what it is. So now of course there's explanations uh what we call tamim uh of of of why this is the case but the truth be told the bottom line is it's because he said so that's the real case for all of the laws you have to do it because he said so and the consequence of what they are because he said so that's that's really the bottom line but there's a explanations the Shabbat says that when a person violates Shabbat intentionally such as by driving on Shabbat or working on Shabbat and so no cooking on Shabbat. In essence, they are like a person that's running in the street saying, "I don't believe that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh." In so many words, they run in the middle of the street screaming they're an atheist. So, that's certainly a much more heinous crime against the creator and the King of Kings than someone that had a problem with another someone and killed him. Because when he killed him, it wasn't because he hates God. He killed him because he hates him. So even though it's a violation, he'll get punished and so on. The point is is that when someone betrays God by saying he doesn't exist, while he is actually getting air from him, while he lives because of him, while he gets money from him, while he had his wife because of him, while while he's getting everything from him, he still betrays God, saying he doesn't exist. There's literally nothing more ungrateful and betrayful than uh than betraying than than such a person. Hence the reason why the Torah says that a person that's a Shabbat is worse than a murderer. So from there we know there is significant and more significant. Uh but there are certain laws that are obligated on all Jews like observing Shabbat. There are certain laws that are obligated only at the time of the beta mikdash like the kobanut. There are laws that are only obligated on the kohanim. There are laws that are only obligated on women or on men. Uh there are laws that are only obligated when the situation presents itself. Uh like a for example uh uh the u one of the things that's mentioned this week's para which is pion. Now, if you have a firstborn that's that's a that's a boy, then you do pun. But if your firstborn as a girl, then you don't do. So, it's not that you uh uh you're a bad guy because you didn't do that. You don't have the possibility of doing it. You don't have the possibility of doing it. So, there are certain laws that are applicable at specific times, specific situations, uh specific people and so on. So, again, there is a different levels. But as far as significance, uh there are certain laws that are usually the ones that are uh relevant to everyone that uh from there we see uh more of a explanation or at least more of a comparison of what's more significant than the other.