In response to your query: a parsha followup

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When you ask a question sometimes you get a very good answer. And sometimes you get two very good answers from two prominent rabbonim.
My thanks to Rabbi Kenneth Auman and Rabbi Natan Slifkin. In light of the comments of the Rambam and Chasam Sofer, we can redefine the source of the difficulty I posed last week regarding treatment of baby birds (Parshat Ki Tetzei; Baby birds and their mothers; August 28, 2009). When the Torah says, "Send away the mother bird and take the children," the second half of that statement is a suggestion of what to do in the
event that you need and can use the eggs or baby birds. The mitzvah component is merely to send away the mother bird, which will eventually return, in order to see what is in her nest. Through this, we either learn to be compassionate, or kabbalistically send a message to God to be compassionate to us, or we enjoy a good breakfast, or we just get mitzvah points which will help us merit extended days. But we are not commanded to take the birds to complete the mitzvah.
A.B.
No eggs, no mitzvah
To the Editor:
See Tshuvot Chatam Sofer Chelek 1 (Orach Chaim) Siman 100, where he appears to state that normative Halacha follows the Chachomim. If one is not interested in taking the chicks or the eggs, there is no mitzvah to send away the mother.
Rabbi Kenneth Auman
Young Israel of Flatbush
A different interpretation
To the Editor:
According to most Rishonim (Rambam, Rashbam, Chizkuni, Ramban, Ralbag, Rabbeinu Bachya ben Asher) the mitzvah of shiluach hakein is indeed about compassion. They explain away the Mishnah’s statement that, “One who says ‘Your mercy is demonstrated through the treatment of the mother bird’ is to be silenced,” as meaning that G-d did not command this mitzvah out of His mercy upon the bird, but rather to teach us mercy; or, that this Mishnah follows an alternate viewpoint.
The rationale behind the mitzvah is as follows: In earlier times, when food was not as plentiful as it is today, most people would seize the opportunity for a free meal. Eggs would be a delicious treat, and some people might even want to eat the chicks. The Torah commands us to restrain our desires; it forbids us from taking the mother too, and even when taking the eggs or young, we must send away the mother bird to spare her the distress of seeing her young being taken. But if one has no desire for the eggs or young (as would be the case today) there is no mitzvah to take them; one simply leaves them all alone.
Rambam agrees that not everyone will be tempted to eat chicks, and sees this as part of the idea: “He [Hashem] also forbade slaughtering an animal and its young on the same day, to take care to avoid slaughtering the young before its mother’s eyes, for the distress caused thereby to animals is great... This is also the reason for sending away the mother bird from the nest, for the eggs on which the mother nests and the fledglings that need their mother are not generally fit for food; and when a person sends off the mother and she goes away, she will not be distressed at seeing her young taken. And since that which would be taken in most instances is not fit to be eaten, for the most part there will be reason to leave everything.” (Guide for the Perplexed III:48)
An entirely different perspective was presented in the Zohar, which states that the mitzvah functions to cause the mother bird distress, causing her angel in Heaven to protest to G-d, Who wonders why nobody is protesting on behalf of the Jewish People in exile, and as a result decides to have compassion on them. According to this approach, the mitzvah is about causing pain to the mother bird rather than minimizing it. Furthermore, following this approach, one should send away the mother bird even if one has no desire for the young. While some attempt to reconcile the Zohar with the aforementioned Rishonim, the truth is that they reflect fundamentally different approaches to Torah as a whole and this mitzvah in particular. I have just finished writing an extensive study of this topic that I hope to publish soon.
Rabbi Natan Slifkin
Issue of September 5 2009 / 15 Elul 5769 When you ask a question sometimes you get a very good answer. And sometimes you get two very good answers from two prominent rabbonim.  My thanks to Rabbi Kenneth Auman and Rabbi Natan Slifkin. In light of the comments of the Rambam and Chasam Sofer, we can redefine the source of the difficulty I posed last week regarding treatment of baby birds (Parshat Ki Tetzei; Baby birds and their mothers; August 28, 2009). When the Torah says, "Send away the mother bird and take the children," the second half of that statement is a suggestion of what to do in the event that you need and can use the eggs or baby birds. The mitzvah component is merely to send away the mother bird, which will eventually return, in order to see what is in her nest. Through this, we either learn to be compassionate, or kabbalistically send a message to God to be compassionate to us, or we enjoy a good breakfast, or we just get mitzvah points which will help us merit extended days. But we are not commanded to take the birds to complete the mitzvah. Rabbi Avi Billet

No eggs, no mitzvah

Dear Rabbi Billet, See Tshuvot Chatam Sofer Chelek 1 (Orach Chaim) Siman 100, where he appears to state that normative Halacha follows the Chachomim. If one is not interested in taking the chicks or the eggs, there is no mitzvah to send away the mother. Rabbi Kenneth Auman Young Israel of Flatbush A different interpretation Dear Rabbi Billet, According to most Rishonim (Rambam, Rashbam, Chizkuni, Ramban, Ralbag, Rabbeinu Bachya ben Asher) the mitzvah of shiluach hakein is indeed about compassion. They explain away the Mishnah’s statement that, “One who says ‘Your mercy is demonstrated through the treatment of the mother bird’ is to be silenced,” as meaning that G-d did not command this mitzvah out of His mercy upon the bird, but rather to teach us mercy; or, that this Mishnah follows an alternate viewpoint. The rationale behind the mitzvah is as follows: In earlier times, when food was not as plentiful as it is today, most people would seize the opportunity for a free meal. Eggs would be a delicious treat, and some people might even want to eat the chicks. The Torah commands us to restrain our desires; it forbids us from taking the mother too, and even when taking the eggs or young, we must send away the mother bird to spare her the distress of seeing her young being taken. But if one has no desire for the eggs or young (as would be the case today) there is no mitzvah to take them; one simply leaves them all alone. Rambam agrees that not everyone will be tempted to eat chicks, and sees this as part of the idea: “He [Hashem] also forbade slaughtering an animal and its young on the same day, to take care to avoid slaughtering the young before its mother’s eyes, for the distress caused thereby to animals is great... This is also the reason for sending away the mother bird from the nest, for the eggs on which the mother nests and the fledglings that need their mother are not generally fit for food; and when a person sends off the mother and she goes away, she will not be distressed at seeing her young taken. And since that which would be taken in most instances is not fit to be eaten, for the most part there will be reason to leave everything.” (Guide for the Perplexed III:48) An entirely different perspective was presented in the Zohar, which states that the mitzvah functions to cause the mother bird distress, causing her angel in Heaven to protest to G-d, Who wonders why nobody is protesting on behalf of the Jewish People in exile, and as a result decides to have compassion on them. According to this approach, the mitzvah is about causing pain to the mother bird rather than minimizing it. Furthermore, following this approach, one should send away the mother bird even if one has no desire for the young. While some attempt to reconcile the Zohar with the aforementioned Rishonim, the truth is that they reflect fundamentally different approaches to Torah as a whole and this mitzvah in particular. I have just finished writing an extensive study of this topic that I hope to publish soon. Rabbi Natan Slifkin Editor's note:  Two more responses were submitted after the print deadline. They are reproduced here: Dear Rabbi Billet, I don't know if I have a "good answer" to the questions posed by Rabbi Billet (Parshat Ki Teitzei: Baby Birds and Their Mother), but I do have a different perspective. Rabbi Billet concludes that shiluach haken (the law requiring sending the mother away before taking eggs or young birds from a nest) cannot be based on compassion to animals because the Mishnah (Berachot 5:3) states "One who says (in prayer) ‘Your mercy is demonstrated through the treatment of the mother bird’ is to be silenced." But the Talmud (Berachot 33b) gives two possible reasons why this prayer may be objectionable. One interpretation (which Rabbi Billet accepts) is that the prayer suggests that God’s laws are based on mercy rather than fiat. The other interpretation is quite the opposite – that the prayer is objectionable because it implies that God is more merciful to one species than another. Maimonides (Guide For The Perplexed 3:48) accepts this latter interpretation, because Maimonides argues that all Torah commandments have reasons (note Bamidbar Rabbah 19:6 says that God revealed the reason for the Red Heiffer to Moses). Rabbi Billet’s more powerful point is that it would have been more merciful to forbid disturbing the nest altogether (see Ikkar Tosafot Yom Tov on Berachot 5:3). But sometimes the Torah limits its demands on humanity, knowing that our capabilities are limited (see Maimonides, Guide 3:22, discussing why God commands animal sacrifice when the practice has many troubling theological implications). Many (e.g. Rav Kook) have argued that the very permission to eat meat is a divine concession to human needs. Perhaps God made a judgment that requiring shiluach haken, rather than asking for the nest to be left alone, would be the best way to get the most compassionate behavior out of the most number of people. Rabbi Noah Gradofsky Temple Israel of Long Beach, New York Dear Rabbi Billet, I very much enjoyed your article on Shiluach Hakayn. Your words beautifully articulate the issues I have had with understanding this mitzvah for years. I have no ready answer for you except that at the very least it seems to me that — if you don't need the eggs/baby birds — leave the nest alone. But, I am not sure that I am correct — better, more sensitive minds than mine disagree. Elliot Goldofsky, M.D. Great Neck, NY