Two kibbud av va-eim questions:
1] The gemara [Kiddushin 30b] says in the name of Rebbe that it is גלוי וידוע לפני מי שאמר והיה העולם - well known in front of the one who said and the world came into being, that a person is more likely to honor his mother more than his father because she speaks more gently and sweetly, so the Torah tells us first to honor one's father and then our mother. גלוי וידוע לפני וכו - it is well known in front of the one who said and the world came into being, that a person is more likely to fear his father than his mother because his father teaches him Torah [and fear of one's Rebbi should be like fear of heaven], so the Torah tells us first to fear one's mother.
This language of גלוי וידוע לפני מי שאמר והיה העולם is more appropriate for something that is a secret and only Hashem knows [see the statement of Rebbe in Chullin 63b]. The reality that a person is more likely to honor his sweet mother and fear his father seems self evident and is not a secret. So why does Rebbi use this language here?
2] The mishna [Krisus 28] says that from the fact that the mother is mentioned first with respect to kibbud and the father is mentioned first with respect to fear, it must be that one must equally honor and fear both. But that is not a necessary conlusion. One can also say that there is a גזירת הכתוב that one should fear one's mother more and honor one's father more. [Maybe because one is more likely to honor one's mother more there is a גזירת הכתוב to honor one's father more and vice versa]. Honor and fear are two separate mitzvos so why should there be an interface between their psukim?
