In Memory of Reva Margolin on her 21st Yahrzrit
In Parshat Ki Tetze, Dvarim 22:6-7 we read: “If you should
chance upon a bird’s nest before you on the road 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 with her offspring. You must surely send away the
mother and the offspring take for yourself, so that you will benefit and you
will live long.”
Does this mean that we are obligated to send away the mother
bird even if we don’t need the fledglings or the eggs?
According to the Rambam (Guide 3:48): “The eggs which the
bird sits on and the young that are in need of their mother, are generally
unfit for food…in most cases this command will cause man to leave the nest
untouched.”
Chatam Sofer and Chazon Ish are of the opinion that the
mitzvah of sending the mother bird away is not an obligatory mitzvah , it only
needs to be done if one should “chance upon a nest” and wants to take the
fledglings or the eggs. Therefore, one does not need to search far and wide to
find a nest in order to perform the mitzvah and even if one sees a nest, they
only need to send the mother bird away if they plan to eat the fledglings or
the eggs.
The formula of how to send the mother bird away is given to
instruct those who want to take the fledglings or the eggs so that no anguish
is caused to the mother bird. If one has no use for the fledglings or the eggs
it is best not to disturb them.
Some may be zealous in trying to perform this mitzvah as the
reward for performing it is long life. However, there are plenty of other mitzvot
with rewards. Another mitzvah that promises long life is honoring your parents.
The mitzvah of sending away the mother bird is to protect
the mother so that she doesn’t suffer from seeing her babies taken away from
her. Surely if one doesn’t need the babies there is no reason to separate her
from her young.
We can learn from here that if God wants us to be so careful
about how we treat birds, how much more so should we be careful with how we
treat other human beings.
