Heedful of a Light Precept as of a Weighty One/ to be heedful of a light precept as of a weighty one
One is just as careful to keep and fulfill easy commandments as one is to keep strict commandments.
("Rabbi Omer says, "What is the right path that a man should choose? All that he does will be praised by the doer and will be praised by him from man, and he will be as brilliant in a light mitzvah as in a severe one, for no one knows the measure of a drunkard of a mitzvah" - Avot 2:1, and so: "Truly, he is brilliant in a light mitzvah as in a severe one, but he has not reached the level of a righteous man" - Y. Burla/ Kisuphim, 52, and so: "In the hour that he stood by night he said, No one says a man's praise before him, but they say the end of a man's praise before him. Daniel, one of the sons of Judah, was strong, he was as bright as a horse" - Agnon/ Orech Natah Lalon, 28, and so: "They were like a man from Israel in their souls - from the day that he stood by his knowledge, his parents "And many of them are as easy to understand as hard" - H. Baer/ To the Place Where the Spirit Goes, 91)
Translation
Expression (Hebrew)
זָהִיר בְּמִצְוָוה קַלָּה כְּבַחֲמוּרָה
Definition (Hebrew)
מַקְפִּיד לִשְׁמֹור וּלְקַיֵּים מִצְווֹת קַלּוֹת כְּמוֹ שֶׁהוּא מַקְפִּיד לִשְׁמֹר עַל מִצְווֹת חֲמוּרוֹת.
("רַבִּי אוֹמֵר אֵיזוֹהִי דֶּרֶךְ יְשָׁרָה שֶׁיָּבֹר לוֹ הָאָדָם כֹּל שֶׁהִיא תִּפְאֶרֶת לְעֹשֵׂה וְתִפְאֶרֶת לוֹ מִן הָאָדָם וֶהֱוֵי זָהִיר בְּמִצְוָה קַלָּה כְּבַחֲמוּרָה שֶׁאֵין אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ מַתַּן שְׂכָרָן שֶׁל מִצְוֹת"- אָבוֹת ב א, וְכֵן:"אֱמֶת, זָהִיר הוּא בְּמִצְוָה קַלָּה כְּבַחֲמוֹרָה,אֲבָל לְדַרְגַּת צַדִּיק לֹא הִגִּיעַ"- י.בּוּרְלָא/ כִּסּוּפִים, 52, וְכֵן:"בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁעָמַד לִילָךְ אָמַר, אֵין אוֹמְרִים שִׁבְחוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם בְּפָנָיו, אֲבָל אוֹמְרִים מִקְצָת שִׁבְחוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם בְּפָנָיו. דָּנִיֵּאל בְּנֵי יְהוּדִי כָּשֵׁר הָיָה, זָהִיר הָיָה בְּקַלָּה כְּבַחֲמוֹרָה"- עַגְנוֹן/ אוֹרֵחַ נָטָה לָלוּן, 28, וְכֵן:"שַׁוּוּ בְּנַפְשְׁכֶם אָדָם מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל- שֶׁמִּיּוֹם שֶׁעָמַד עַל דַּעְתּוֹ אִלְּפוּהוּ הוֹרָיו וְרַבּוֹתָיו לְדַקְדֵּק בְּקַלָּה כְּבַחֲמוֹרָה"- ח.בְּאֵר/ אֶל מָקוֹם שֶׁהָרוּחַ הוֹלֵךְ, 91)