The early sages (the Tanaaim) ruled that one who performs a commandment, any commandment, derives benefit and the heavens grant him longevity. The scholars asked: Did not the early sages rule that only certain commandments benefit a person in such a manner: honoring one’s parents, acts of kindness, hospitality, making peace between people, and the study of Torah? Answer: A person who fulfills any commandment benefits in a situation where previously the number of his fulfilled commandments and of his sins were equal and this commandment sways the balance. The scholars then asked: If so, we can imply that one who fulfills a commandment listed above will receive reward, even if all his previous actions were sinful, but this sounds puzzling and unlikely. Answer: The difference between an ordinary commandment and the commandments listed above is that if one’s sins are more numerous than one’s fulfilled commandments and he honored his father, so his sins and good deeds are now equal in number, he will receive reward, while with any other commandment he will receive reward only once his fulfilled commandments outweigh his sins. The scholars went on to ask: In a different place the early sages ruled the exact opposite — a person who has more sins than fulfilled commandments will get his reward in this world so as to lessen his reward in the World to Come, and one whose fulfilled commandments are greater than his sins will have bad things happen to him in this world so as to maximize his reward in the World to Come. Answer: Some days he is rewarded and some punished, and both are due to his many fulfilled commandments — the good happens to give him reward in this world and the bad so he will be given reward in the World to Come. A different sage, Rava, gave a different answer: The two opinions, which contradict each other, come from two different early sages, and they disagree on the issue of rewards for commandments given in this world. According to one sage there is reward in this world for the fulfillment of commandments while according to another sage, R’ Jacob, there is no reward in this world for the fulfillment of commandments, only in the World to Come. How did R’ Jacob know that there is no reward in this world for the fulfillment of commandments? Answer: R’ Jacob witnessed an incident in which a man asked his son to fulfill the commandment of sending a dove from her nest in the top of a nearby tree. The son climbed the tree, sent away the mother dove, and took the chicks for himself. As he came down the tree he fell and died. R’ Jacob tried to reconcile the reality which he witnessed with the Torah’s promises “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land” (Exodus 20:12) and “You shall surely let the mother [the dove] go, and take the young [chicks] for yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days” (Deuteronomy 22:7). R’ Jacob argued that the reward promised for the commandments of honoring one’s parents and sending away the mother bird is in the World to Come alone. The scholars said that this incident is no proof that there is no reward in this world. Perhaps the son who fell and died was thinking of sin and did not fully intend his actions to fulfill the commandments, but a person who did fully intend to fulfill the commandment would never have such a thing happen to him. Answer: G-d does not consider one’s thoughts of sin, only one’s sinful actions. The scholars then said that perhaps the man who fell was secretly thinking of idolatry and therefore fell and died. Answer: R’ Jacob thought that were there reward for the fulfillment of commandments in this world, the commandments he had fulfilled should have saved him from thoughts of idolatry. The scholars then said that there may be no reward in this world for the fulfillment of commandments, but there is another promise, that one who is on his way to fulfill a commandment is not harmed. If so, how can one who is fulfilling the commandments of honoring his parents and of sending the mother bird away be harmed? Answer: The promise is valid only for the period of time during which he is going to fulfill the commandment; after he has fulfilled the commandment and returned he can be harmed, and in the above case he fell and died after he had fulfilled the commandment and was coming down off the tree. The scholars asked: Is it not explicitly written that there is also a promise one will not be harmed on the way back from fulfilling a commandment? If so, why did he fall and die? Answer: The ladder which he used to climb the tree was decrepit and falling apart. The promise that those engaged in the fulfillment of a commandment is only valid when the person uses due caution and is not negligent. One of the scholars, R’ Joseph, added that Elisha the son of Avuya (also called Acher) left religion because he saw a similar incident and could not reconcile the reality he saw with the Scriptures as R’ Jacob did.
(Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Kiddushin 39b)