The Lightest and Heaviest Mitzvot and Their Reward in Midrash Shmuel

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai taught: There are two commandments whose reward the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed in the Torah — the lightest of the light and the heaviest of the heavy. The lightest of the light is "You shall surely send away the mother" (Deuteronomy 22:7) [as it says, "that it may go well with you and that you may prolong your days"]; and the heaviest of the heavy is "Honor your father [and your mother]" (Exodus 20:12). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai: Just as their reward was great, so was their punishment great. This is what is written: "The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother" (Proverbs 30:17) — "you shall not take the mother together with the young" (Deuteronomy 22:6) — "the ravens of the valley shall pluck it out, and the young eagles shall eat it" (Proverbs 30:17). This one plucks out and that one eats. Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let the raven, who is cruel, come and pluck it out, and let it derive no benefit from it; and let the eagle, who is merciful, come and eat it.