(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׃ {ס}
What are some questions that arise for us after reading this passage?
Let's hear what the commentators say:
(א) כי יקרא קן צפור לפניך גם זו מצוה מבוארת מן אותו ואת בנו לא תשחטו ביום אחד (ויקרא כב כח) כי הטעם בשניהם לבלתי היות לנו לב אכזרי ... ויותר נכון בעבור שלא נתאכזר
(1) IF A BIRD’S NEST CHANCE TO BE BEFORE THEE. This also is an explanatory commandment, of the prohibition ye shall not kill it [the dam] and its young both in one day, because the reason for both [commandments] is that we should not have a cruel heart and be discompassionate... But the reason for the prohibition [against taking the dam with its nest, or against killing the dam with its young in one day] is to teach us the trait of compassion and that we should not be cruel, for cruelty proliferates in man’s soul as it is known that butchers, those who slaughter large oxen and asses are men of blood; they that slaughter men, are extremely cruel. It is on account of this [cruelty] that the Rabbis have said: “The most seemly among butchers is a partner of Amalek.” Thus these commandments with respect to cattle and fowl are not [a result of] compassion upon them, but they are decrees upon us to guide us and to teach us traits of good character.
אֲשֶׁ֨ר קָֽרְךָ֜ בַּדֶּ֗רֶךְ וַיְזַנֵּ֤ב בְּךָ֙ כׇּל־הַנֶּחֱשָׁלִ֣ים אַֽחֲרֶ֔יךָ וְאַתָּ֖ה עָיֵ֣ף וְיָגֵ֑עַ וְלֹ֥א יָרֵ֖א אֱלֹהִֽים׃
how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear.
לא תקח האם על הבנים, “do not take the mother bird with the young birds.”
1) Nachmanides writes that the rationale behind this commandment is the same as the one behind the prohibition to slaughter both a calf and its mother on the same day. The purpose of the legislation in both instances is to ensure that our hearts will not become insensitive to animal’s feelings, as once they have become such, the next step is insensitivity to our fellow humans’ feelings.
2) Alternately, the legislation is a reminder by the Torah that we must not do something, which, if duplicated many times would lead to the extinction of the species in question.
3) Maimonides in his Moreh Nevuchim section 3,48 writes that the reason for both the above-mentioned pieces of legislation is to avoid a mother animal watching its young being slaughtered before its own eyes, as the sensitivity to such a happening is as great among animals as it is among humans.
Parashat Teitzei sets the record for the most commandments, or mitzvot, in a single parashah. There are over 70 commandments within its chapters! Very few commandments merit a direct reward of long life, yet the commandment to let the mother go and take her young is one of them, and the one below, all the way back in Exodus. Can we find any parallels?
כַּבֵּ֥ד אֶת־אָבִ֖יךָ וְאֶת־אִמֶּ֑ךָ לְמַ֙עַן֙ יַאֲרִכ֣וּן יָמֶ֔יךָ עַ֚ל הָאֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָֽךְ׃ {ס}
Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that your God יהוה is assigning to you.
When you chance upon a nest ~ On the approach of man, were not for the compassion on her young, the dam would naturally leave the chicks in order to escape. But her maternal love prompts her to scorn prudence and risk her life to save them. Man should therefore not take her so that her righteousness and her love with which she loves her young should not lead her to suffer. This is to teach us to respect the good moral qualities and inculcate in our hearts the idea that one never suffers a loss for doing justice. Had we been permitted to take the mother bird away from her young, man would have concluded that pity was an undesirable and foolish quality, bringing suffering on those exercising it. And now, knowing that taking her is forbidden to us, the essence of the quality of mercy will be inculcated in our hearts very deeply.
The roots and origins of this mitzva are that it is right and beneficial for a person to recognise and acknowledge when someone does good for them, and to act generously and kindly in return. And he should not disgrace himself by being stubborn and distant and closed of heart, for this is a poor and wholly despicable trait in the eyes of God and man. And he should meditate on the fact that his father and mother are the reason for his existence in the world, and that therefore it is truly incumbent upon him to act respectfully and in ways that will benefit and help them. For they brought him into the world, and showed him all manner of kindness and affections when he was young. And when he properly internalises and strengthens this trait in his soul, there will grow from it a recognition of the goodness and kindness of God. For he is the ultimate reason for our existence, and for the existence of our forefathers stretching all the way back to Adam HaRishon. And he brought the individual into the air of the world, and provided all his needs, and enabled him to have clothing and completeness of body. He also gave him a mind capable of knowledge and understanding, and without this act of kindness he would live in darkness and ignorance. Reflecting on all of this, he will understand the need for thought and care in his worship and service of God. ...