Do Not Take the Mother Bird upon Her Children

(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׃

(6) If, along the road, you chance upon a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs and the mother sitting over the fledglings or on the eggs, do not take the mother together with her young.

Jackson: You are working on this art piece but you don't have a color that you like. But you mix and mix until you get the perfect color that you like for that spot in the painting, and someone else just steals your color. The mother bird has invested so much time and effort in raising the child and then the child is just gone. That is why you don't want the mother to witness this. How do you think that would make you feel.

Micah: When you have worked at something really hard in life and then it all of sudden fails or gets broken, it is like the mother bird getting its baby taken away from her. It 's hard to let go. It's like when a kid goes away to preschool for the first time away from its mother. It is hard to let go from all of your bonding.

Adam: I think its wrong even if the mother bird is shooed away. Because there is no difference in shooing her away because she will come back and the nest will be empty. It might even be worse because she won't know what happened.

Jackson: It hurts any parent when their child is taken away.

(יב) הַצִּילֵ֥נִי נָ֛א מִיַּ֥ד אָחִ֖י מִיַּ֣ד עֵשָׂ֑ו כִּֽי־יָרֵ֤א אָנֹכִי֙ אֹת֔וֹ פֶּן־יָב֣וֹא וְהִכַּ֔נִי אֵ֖ם עַל־בָּנִֽים׃

(12) Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; else, I fear, he may come and strike me down, mothers and children alike.

Do you remember what Jacob did to try to protect the mothers and their children? It seems that Jacob connects the children with their respective mothers rather than seeing them all as his children as well. What is the Torah telling us here about the roles of fathers and mothers back in Biblical times? How does that compare with parents' roles now?

(יב) הַצִּילֵ֥נִי נָ֛א מִיַּ֥ד אָחִ֖י מִיַּ֣ד עֵשָׂ֑ו כִּֽי־יָרֵ֤א אָנֹכִי֙ אֹת֔וֹ פֶּן־יָב֣וֹא וְהִכַּ֔נִי אֵ֖ם עַל־בָּנִֽים׃
(12) Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; else, I fear, he may come and strike me down, mothers and children alike.

(יד) וְקָ֣אם שָׁאוֹן֮ בְּעַמֶּ֒ךָ֒ וְכׇל־מִבְצָרֶ֣יךָ יוּשַּׁ֔ד כְּשֹׁ֧ד שַֽׁלְמַ֛ן בֵּ֥ית אַֽרְבֵ֖אל בְּי֣וֹם מִלְחָמָ֑ה אֵ֥ם עַל־בָּנִ֖ים רֻטָּֽשָׁה׃

(14) But the din of war shall arise in your own people, And all your fortresses shall be ravaged As Beth-arbel was ravaged by Shalman On a day of battle, When mothers and babes were dashed to death together.

מַתְנִי׳ הָאוֹמֵר: ״עַל קַן צִיפּוֹר יַגִּיעוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ״, וְ״עַל טוֹב יִזָּכֵר שְׁמֶךָ״, ״מוֹדִים, מוֹדִים״ — מְשַׁתְּקִין אוֹתוֹ. גְּמָ׳ בִּשְׁלָמָא, ״מוֹדִים, מוֹדִים״ מְשַׁתְּקִין אוֹתוֹ — מִשּׁוּם דְּמֶיחְזֵי כִּשְׁתֵּי רָשׁוּיוֹת. וְ״עַל טוֹב יִזָּכֵר שְׁמֶךָ״ נָמֵי, מַשְׁמַע עַל הַטּוֹבָה וְלֹא עַל הָרָעָה, וּתְנַן: חַיָּיב אָדָם לְבָרֵךְ עַל הָרָעָה כְּשֵׁם שֶׁמְּבָרֵךְ עַל הַטּוֹבָה. אֶלָּא ״עַל קַן צִפּוֹר יַגִּיעוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ״

MISHNA: Concluding the laws of prayer in this tractate, the mishna raises several prayer-related matters. This mishna speaks of certain innovations in the prayer formula that warrant the silencing of a communal prayer leader who attempts to introduce them in his prayers, as their content tends toward heresy. One who recites in his supplication: Just as Your mercy is extended to a bird’s nest, as You have commanded us to send away the mother before taking her chicks or eggs (Deuteronomy 22:6–7), so too extend Your mercy to us...

Miya: I think that this mishna is telling us that you should not use this mitzvah as a representation of G-d's mercy, but I think that it is really a bigger point of view and you should use this example for a bigger picture. That is why the prayer leader should be corrected.