Created by Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg
(ו) כִּ֣י יִקָּרֵ֣א קַן־צִפּ֣וֹר ׀ לְפָנֶ֡יךָ בַּדֶּ֜רֶךְ בְּכָל־עֵ֣ץ ׀ א֣וֹ עַל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֶפְרֹחִים֙ א֣וֹ בֵיצִ֔ים וְהָאֵ֤ם רֹבֶ֙צֶת֙ עַל־הָֽאֶפְרֹחִ֔ים א֖וֹ עַל־הַבֵּיצִ֑ים לֹא־תִקַּ֥ח הָאֵ֖ם עַל־הַבָּנִֽים׃ (ז) שַׁלֵּ֤חַ תְּשַׁלַּח֙ אֶת־הָאֵ֔ם וְאֶת־הַבָּנִ֖ים תִּֽקַּֽח־לָ֑ךְ לְמַ֙עַן֙ יִ֣יטַב לָ֔ךְ וְהַאֲרַכְתָּ֖ יָמִֽים׃ (ס)
(6) When a bird’s nest happens to be in front of you on your path, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, and the mother is sitting on the fledglings or on the eggs, do not take the mother together with her children. (7) You must definitely send away the mother. [Only] the children will you take, so that things will be good for you, and your days (life) will be extended.
Questions For Reflection:
1. What reasons could there be for this instruction to shoo away the mother bird, before taking the offspring?
2. These verses indicate that following through on a commandment can lead to the extension of your life. Does that idea resonate for you? Why or why not?
3. Do you agree with this commandment? If not, how would you modify it?
(א) כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד מִבְּנֵי הָאָדָם יֵשׁ לוֹ זְכֻיּוֹת וַעֲוֹנוֹת. מִי שֶׁזְּכֻיּוֹתָיו יְתֵרוֹת עַל עֲוֹנוֹתָיו צַדִּיק. וּמִי שֶׁעֲוֹנוֹתָיו יְתֵרוֹת עַל זְכֻיּוֹתָיו רָשָׁע. מֶחֱצָה לְמֶחֱצָה בֵּינוֹנִי. וְכֵן הַמְּדִינָה אִם הָיוּ זְכֻיּוֹת כָּל יוֹשְׁבֶיהָ מְרֻבּוֹת עַל עֲוֹנוֹתֵיהֶן הֲרֵי זוֹ צַדֶּקֶת. וְאִם הָיוּ עֲוֹנוֹתֵיהֶם מְרֻבִּין הֲרֵי זוֹ רְשָׁעָה. וְכֵן כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ:
Maimonides: (1) Each and every person has virtues and vices. One whose virtues exceed one's vices is a righteous person. And one whose vices exceed ones virtues is an wicked person. If both are evenly balanced, one is an "in-between" person. The same is true with respect to states (nations) -- if the virtues of all of its inhabitants are greater than their vices, it is righteous. But if their vices are greater, it is wicked. The same is the start for the entire world.1Rosh ha-Shanah, 17a C.
Jane Goodall - You cannot get through a single day without leaving an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.
To Reflect On:
1. Maimonides writes that every person contains both good and bad, and that the world contains both justice and wickedness. If your next action, however small, could tilt the whole world toward the side of justice or wickedness, how would that affect your decisions/behaviors?
2. Is Jane Goodall's quotation an affirmation of Maimonides', or is she conveying a different idea (or set of ideas)?
A Spiritual Challenge For Elul:
Live one day as if the world's balance of good and evil depended on every action you take. Reflect on what you discover.
As you read the following words from different sources, notice what jumps out at you the most? What shimmers? What grabs you? And why?
He who is hard on animals becomes also hard in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals. - Immanuel Kant
I can contemplate a tree. I can accept it as a picture... I can feel it as a movement... I can assign it to a species and observe it as an instance... I can overcome its uniqueness and form so rigorously that I can recognize it only as an expression of law... I can dissolve it into a number, into a pure relation between numbers, and externalize it. Throughout all of this, the tree remains my object and has its time span, its kind and condition. But it can also happen, if will and grace are joined, that as I contemplate the tree, I am drawn into a relation, and the tree ceases to be an It. - Martin Buber from I and Thou
Rabbi Meir used to say, ‘Great is teshuva, for on account of one person who sincerely resolves to change, the whole world is forgiven.’ - Babylonian Talmud Yoma 86b