What are the "major" and "minor" commandments?

Question

The Mishna says:

Be quick in performing a minor commandment as a major one. [Avot 4:2]

But we do not rank the commandments. The Mishna also says:

Be as scrupulous in observing a minor commandment as a major commandment, because you don't know the values of the commandments." [Avot 2:1]

All this is consistent with saying: "Mitzvot may well differ in value, but since we don't know what these values are, we must treat them as equal."

But then, the Talmud says that a candidate for conversion is "given instruction in some of the minor [commandments] and some of the major commandments". [Yevamot 47] These words even appear on the conversion certificate. How does the converting rabbi decide what's major and what's minor?

Instead of leaving it to the converting rabbi to decide what mitzvot to teach, couldn't the Talmud have specified them, without characterizing them as major or minor?

Answer 1

R. Chaim of Volozhin in his commentary to Avot 2:1 offers various explanations that still uphold the idea that some commandments are definitely superior to others.

• The reward for any mitzvah is so great so as to defy the imagination. Thus, it is silly to not go after lesser mitzvot on the basis that their reward is less, because even the lesser reward is beyond comprehension. The phrase "we don't know the value" doesn't refer to the relative value, but to the actual value.

• Sometimes you can end up with greater reward for a lesser mitzvah because you do the lesser mitzvah out of fear of God, while you might only do the greater mitzvah out of fear of punishment (which is a lower level).

• Sometimes a lesser mitzvah overrides a greater mitzvah; e.g. a mitzvah that can't be done by someone else overrides the greater mitzvah of Torah study.

• According to Resh Lakish in Sanhedrin 111a Hell is opened up for someone who leaves even a single mitzvah. Thus, you have to make sure to do every single mitzvah, event the lowest ones.

R. Yoel Sirkes in his commentary to R. Yaakov Ben Asher's codification of the Talmudic statement from Yevamot explains that we tell a convert some major commandments so as to scare him away, and some minor commandments to show how easy it is to get reward. As such it wouldn't particularly matter which individual mitzvot were told to the convert.

Answer 2

The classic example of a Difficult Mitzva is honouring ones parents, and an easy Mitzva is to send away the mother bird as quoted in Yerushalmi Kiddushin 20a (It seems that its proportional to the amount of exertion as it takes 2 seconds to send away mother bird and a parents lifetime to respect them adequately):

אמר ר' אבא בר כהנא השוה הכתוב מצוה קלה שבקלות למצוה חמורה מן החמורות מצוה קלה שבקלות זו שילוח הקן ומצוה חמורה שבחמורות זו היא היא כיבוד אב ואם ובשתיהן כתיב והארכת ימים

The Mishna by saying one should be scrupulous in doing both easy Mitzvot and hard Mitzvot, as we do not know the value of fulfilling a Mitzva with pure faith Just because G-d told us to, without logical reasoning of how much benefit we may gain from that Mitzva in that circumstance as Yerushalmi Pea 3a says:

רבי אחא בשם רבי אבא בר כהנה כתיב (משלי ה׳:ו׳) אורח חיים פן תפלס נעו מעגלותיה לא תדע טילטל הקב"ה מתן שכרן של עושי מצות כדי שיהיו עושין אותן באמונה
It is written: "When you walk the path of life (i.e a Mitzva comes your way which is life) do not choose your step (i.e do that Mitzva even if you could go and look for a greater Mitzva to do)" - do not move your steps away for you don't know why G-d is carrying you that way and the value of fulfilling those Mitzvot out of pure faith