Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
(ו) כִּ֣י יִקָּרֵ֣א קַן־צִפּ֣וֹר ׀ לְפָנֶ֡יךָ בַּדֶּ֜רֶךְ בְּכׇל־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׃
If, along the road, you happen to find a bird’s nest, in a tree or on the ground, with chicks or eggs, and the mother bird is sitting over the chicks or on the eggs—do not take the mother together with her young.
Send the mother away, and take only the young, so that things will be good for you, and you have a long life.
This mitzvah is called שִׁלּוּחַ הַקֵּן (shiluah ha-kein). Why do we do this mitzvah, and what are we supposed to learn from it?
It’s a debate!
הָאוֹמֵר: ״עַל קַן צִיפּוֹר יַגִּיעוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ״… מְשַׁתְּקִין אוֹתוֹ.
…מַאי טַעְמָא?
…מִפְּנֵי שֶׁעוֹשֶׂה מִדּוֹתָיו שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא רַחֲמִים, וְאֵינָן אֶלָּא גְּזֵרוֹת.
If someone says (about shiluah ha-kein), “God’s mercy extends to a bird’s nest”...you should silence that person.
…Why?
…Because this statement suggests that God’s ways are mercy. But, in fact, they are just decrees (that must be observed whether or not they make sense).
According to this gemara, there’s something wrong with trying to explain a mitzvah as God doing something nice!
- What could be the problem with trying to find ethical explanations for mitzvot?
- Are we supposed to do mitzvot because we agree with them and think they’re nice, or are we supposed to do what God says even if we don’t like it?
Rambam says we should follow another opinion in the gemara than the one quoted above.
Guide of the Perplexed (Rambam) (Spain and Egypt, 850 years ago)
There is no difference between the pain of people and the pain of other living beings… This reason applies to the law which tells us to let the mother fly away when we take the young… When the mother is sent away, she does not see her young ones being taken and does not feel pain… From the Torah’s concern with causing emotional grief to animals and birds, we learn that we must be even more careful with other people’s feelings.
- When you read the pesukim about shiluah ha-kein, what does it sound like the Torah is trying to teach us? What do you notice about the outcome or reward that the Torah promises?
- Does it help you to perform mitzvot when you can understand the reasons behind them?
-------------------
