Young children famously trill the
mantra “Why?” to the exasperation of the adults around them. Many child-rearing
books provide clever advice for deflecting the question. But it’s a reasonable
question, and answering it directly -- as best one can -- nurtures a child’s
inquisitive mind and desire to learn.
Parshat
Ki Teitzei imparts a mitzvah (commandment) that leaves us scratching our
heads and asking, “Why?” Rabbi Milton Steinberg, in his magnificent book, As a Driven Leaf, made this commandment
famous:
If, along the
road, you chance upon a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with
fledgling or eggs and the mother sitting over the fledglings or on the eggs, do
not take the mother together with her young. Let the mother go, and take only
the young, in order that you may fare well and have a long life. (Deuteronomy 22:6-7)
This mitzvah is known as shiluach ha-ken (dismissal of the nest).
Torah instructs us to send the mother away before taking eggs or fledglings from
a nest, and makes the most unusual promise of long life as the reward. Why?
The Mishnah tells us:
If [in prayer] one
says: “May Your mercies extend to a bird’s nest,” “May Your Name be mentioned
for well-being,” or “We give thanks, we give thanks,” he is silenced.
What’s wrong with saying
these prayers? Gemara explains why “May Your Name be mentioned for well-being”
and “We give thanks, we give thanks” are problematic, and then takes up “Your
mercies extend to a bird’s nest.”
But what is the
reason for silencing him if he says, “May Your mercies extend to a bird’s
nest”? Two Amoraim [sages in Babylonia] in the West, R. Jose b. Avin and R.
Jose b. Zevida, give different answers. One [R. Yose b. Zevida] says it is
because [saying this prayer] creates jealousy among God’s creatures. The other
[R. Jose b. Avin explains that the reason is] because he presents the actions
of the Holy One Blessed be God as arising from compassion, where in fact they
are decrees. (Berakhot 3b)
R. Jose b. Zevida is concerned that
jealousy not erupt in God’s creation since Torah specifically states a
commandment about birds and their nests, but not about every animal. But he is
overruled. Shiluach ha-ken is a
decree (gezeirah): it a commandment
we cannot understand rationally; we are to simply obey it, and by doing so
prove our loyalty to God.
Many find this explanation deeply
unsatisfying. They want a reason. They want to know why. I concur.
Other sages in the Talmud offer an
alternative interpretation. They understand from these verses that we are
obligated in the mitzvah of tza’ar
ba’alei chaim, to avoid causing unnecessary pain and suffering to animals
(Baba Metzia 32). This is to say: animals have a right to decent treatment, and
Torah speaks to this right. Rambam (Moses Maimonides, Spain, 1135 – Egypt, 1204)
affirms this interpretation. He tells us that the purpose of shiluach ha-ken is to spare the mother
the pain of seeing her offspring or eggs taken from her.
Targum Yerushalmi (erroneously
attributed to Yonatan b. Uzziel) claims that to earn God’s mercy, we must act
mercifully toward other creatures that dwell on earth. He thereby suggests that
the mitzvah of shiluach ha-ken is
intended to instill in us the habit of the middat-rachamim
(the attribute of mercy). Ramban (Moses b. Nachman - Nachmanides - Spain, 1194
- 1270) concurs; if we learn to treat animals with compassion, how much more
compassion will we show other human beings?
Rabbi Don Isaac Abravanel (Portugal
1437 - Venice 1508), in his commentary to Deuteronomy 22:6 suggests a third,
and very different purpose behind shiluach
ha-ken (dismissal of the nest). He writes:
The Torah’s intention is to prevent the possibility of
untimely destruction and rather, to encourage Creation to persist as fully as
possible… [the end of the verse] in order
that you may fare well and live long, means that this mitzvah (of sending
away the mother bird) has no intended purpose for the sake of the animals, but
rather that it shall be good for humankind, because when the birds will be
perpetuated, we will be able to eat from them many additional times… and that
is how you will live longer…”
In other words, destroying two
generations of a species risks lowering the population to below the level required
to serve as food to sustain a human population. While Abravanel is the first to
express concern for the population of the species affected, and we might have
wished that his concern was for more than a source of food for humans, we
nonetheless see his awareness of the essential interplay between humans and our
environment, and the importance of sustainability.
If we accept the Rabbis’ first
response to “Why?” we are left only with an opportunity to be obedient without
any sense that our action itself is meaningful or good. But if we refuse to
accept the Torah “on faith,” closing down our minds, we find fascinating
discussions are launched by these verses:
1. The
principle of tza’ar ba’alei chayim,
the importance of protecting animals from pain and suffering.
2. The
lesson that compassion is a learned attitude and behavior.
3. Protection
and sustainability of species.
Taken together, the common thread
is the importance of compassion for all those affected by human behavior:
compassion for the mother bird, compassion that can be learned and exhibited in
human relationships, compassion for the larger picture of the environment. How
much richer and more meaningful this mitzvah is now!
We tend to think that searching for
rational explanations, and demanding reasons for requirements made of us, is a
modern trait of rational thinkers. Not so. Just look at the dates of the
commentators I cited who did just that: the dates range from the third century
to the 15th century.
R. Yose b. Avin’s response suggests
that God is the parent who says, “Do it because I told you so.” Not a great
parenting technique. Best to follow those who stretch their minds, open their hearts,
and exercise their morality. They teach us how to live better lives.
© Rabbi Amy Scheinerman
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