The Bird That Lives

Parshat Metzora
by Rabbi Avi Billet

Our twenty-first century minds may find the purification process of the metzora unsettling. "Take two live birds, cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop. Have one bird killed in an earthen vessel over running water. Dip the remaining items (including the other live bird) in the blood of the first bird. Sprinkle the mixture on the one being purified, then let the live bird go free." (14:4-7)

After this, anyone who thinks tzara'at was a medical condition, such as leprosy, ought to have the head examined. It is obviously a highly symbolic formula, and each ingredient carries a deeper message for the former metzora looking to rejoin society after a week or more isolated from the rest of society. The gemara in Arachin 16b lists a number of actions that may have brought about the tzara'at – the common denominator being that the person has neglected to consider implications of one's actions vis-à-vis the society at large.

What most fascinates me is the live bird that goes free. Every other Torah ritual that involves an animal results in the animal's death. Only the effort to remove tzara'at of the body and of the house utilizes a bird who is released, alive and well, with a mini bathing in blood to serve as a memory of his experience. Why is its life spared?

On a very simple level, it could represent the idea that just as the bird's life is spared and it goes free, the metzora could have been punished otherwise, perhaps losing his life, but he is now free.

The Kli Yakar takes the significance of the two birds to a much deeper level.

He explains that a person experiences two types of speech – prohibited and mitzvah-oriented. The prohibited speech, which includes lashon hara, is represented by the chirping bird that is slaughtered over the earthen vessel under running water. If he is a real person, he will have a weakened spirit at the sight of the bird that is taking his place, as the verse in Mishlei 15:4 says, "A healing tongue is a tree of life, but if there is perverseness in it, it causes destruction by wind." His judgment is compared to the earthen vessel which, were it to become unkosher in some manner, it can never be fixed and must be smashed.

On the other hand, if he is a scholar, his resolution at the sight of all these happenings will be to study Torah, which is compared to running water. This is why the term "zot torat" (This is the Torah of…) appears five times in the telling of the metzora's purification process, as it teaches him that one who delves into the teachings of the Five Books of the Torah can be saved from the tzara'at he may have received on account of speaking lashon hara.

The bird that lives and is set free represents the words of Torah and prayers that a person may have uttered. They are to be combined with cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop which represent one's submission and humility. Even when studying and praying one's heart should have that feeling of being broken and submissive.

The rabbis taught us (Sotah 5a), "The Torah does not say 'man' will be healed, but that 'flesh' will be healed (Vayikra 13:18), because only a person whose heart is soft and fleshy (as opposed to hard as stone) will be healed of his tzara'at."

Sotah 5a also teaches that "Basar" (flesh) is an acronym for "Bushah, Sruchah and Rimah" – shame, foulness and worms. This could be a reminder of the disgrace and degradation that awaits one at death on account of his deeds.

With this in mind, one might choose one's words more carefully and pursue humility when dealing with others.

The sprinkling of the blood soaked living bird upon the healed metzora is meant for him to see the possibility of repenting for past deeds, and taking upon himself a sincere effort to improve in the future. Torah study is meant to help this pursuit of goodness, as living by its guiding principles is meant to create a wholesome and wonderful human being.

Picture the image of a bird that is released from captivity. Imagine it spreading its wings as it flies away. This is what the live bird is meant to represent to the metzora. "Your past deeds are duly noted. You did the wrong thing and were given this spiritual ailment to serve as a wakeup call. You are being given a new lease on life. Don't waste this opportunity. Pursue truth, kindness, and have utmost respect for your fellow man through the things you say and the way you carry yourself."

Amen.

Follow Up to Mother Bird and her Babies

Rabbi Natan Slifkin, the Zoo Rabbi, wrote the following response to my posed question at the end - "I am still unsatisfied with the treatment of the eggs or babies, if they are not returned to the tree. Do you have a good answer?" (My emphasis added to his comments)

In response to Rabbi Billet's question on Shiluah HaKein:

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 tobe silenced" as meaning that God 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 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 thePerplexed III:48)

An entirely different perspective was presented in with the Zohar, which states that the mitzvah functions to cause the mother bird distress, causing her angel in Heaven to protest to God, 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 which I hope to publish soon.

Kol tuv,

Natan Slifkin

ps. The Jewish Star posted all this as well
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I guess it boils down to one point, which was my main source of anguish. 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. One is not commanded to take the birds.

The mitzvah, however, is merely to send away the mother bird so you can check 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.

Do we need to take the baby birds? Unequivocally, NO.

Ki Tetze - Baby Birds and Their Mother

See my weekly column in the Jewish Star. Or read it here: 

  Baby Birds and Their Mother 

By Rabbi Avi Billet 

 Issue of August 28, 2009 / 8 Elul 5769

Here is a contradiction for you. The Torah commands that if a person happens to come across a bird nest with a mother bird sitting with her eggs or babies, we are to send away the mother in order to take her offspring. (Devarim 22:6-7) This mitzvah is one of two mitzvot directly linked to lengthening a person’s life. It is so special, Naftali Weinberger wrote a 314-page practical guidebook on how to do it properly (Shiluach Hakan: A Practical Guide; Feldheim Publishers). 

 On the “Bird Watch Ireland” website, I found a page which states strongly that a bird’s nest that contains eggs or baby birds in it should be left alone (http://tinyurl.com/shiluach). 

 They suggest that if one comes across a bird’s nest, the nest “should be left strictly alone! Even casual observation of the nest can cause stress to the parents and young birds. Unless you have experience of caring for birds, taking a baby bird in to care may often reduce its chances of survival; the majority of hand-reared baby birds do not survive.” 

The people who write this are experts in the care of birds, and are very sensitive to the fact that an untrained human touch can be detrimental to bird survival. 

 We, who are commanded against “Tzaar baalei chaim” – causing pain to animals (Bava Metzia 32b) — should be particularly sensitive to living animals, and even respectful with animal meats and skins when we use them for such purposes as food or to produce Torahs and tefillin. 

Yet the Torah tells us (Devarim 22:6-7), “When you come across a bird’s nest with eggs or baby birds — do not take the eggs or babies while the mother is there. Send the mother away and then take the babies, in order that it be good for you and you merit long life.” Jewish law requires the sending away of the mother bird to teach a person to be a compassionate being (Ramban). The compassion is learned from the fulfillment of a different commandment of, “Do not slaughter the parent [animal] and baby [animal] on the same day.” (Vayikra 22:28) We are not permitted to wipe out an animal family in one day, as this would be an evil characteristic, even though animals are “merely” animals. We should not become insensitive through our domination over animals. 

 Would it not be more compassionate to leave the baby birds alone?

 In fact, this commandment is not meant to teach us to show compassion to animals, because the Mishnah in Brachot 5:3 states, “One who says ‘Your mercy is demonstrated through the treatment of the mother bird’ is to be silenced.” I am comfortable saying I do not understand the mitzvah. Why would anyone want to take the baby birds? If they are fertilized eggs at the earliest stage of development, I understand. If they are unfertilized eggs, I understand. (If they are unfertilized, perhaps there is no mitzvah, because the bird is not a “mother.”) 

But if the baby birds are developed in the egg, or if the baby bird is already born, what is the point of taking the baby bird? The egg is useless, unless you plan to feed it to your pet alligator, and for what purpose would one want a baby bird? For its meat? Because it will grow up in captivity? Because it will become a parent to more baby birds? It has no meat on it; it will most likely die on its own, rendering it neveilah (Biblically prohibited from Jewish consumption), and will be no more useful than the bug you stepped on last night. 

 In Weinberger’s book, he notes that according to halakha one may “make a kinyan hagbahah” on the eggs or babies (pick them up for a moment and say their yours) and then put them back – meaning you need not keep them. While this partially answers the question — what if someone chooses to keep the baby birds? What is the point if they will most probably die? How is this cruel behavior to the babies (as compassionate as it may be to the mother, which the mishnah in Brachot has declared irrelevant) justified in the Torah?

 Please don’t misinterpret this question as an animal rights protest. If there were a way that the baby birds somehow benefit humans, I would understand. 

 Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch says the focus is not on the babies for a reason. “If she is occupied with her maternal functions, she is protected from harm and must be let free.” The focus is on the mother bird – not on her feelings, but on her role. 

 In essence, the mitzvah is symbolic, emphasizing the highly valued role of motherhood. The ability to produce and sustain life, to raise babies from their infancy until they are ready to go out into the world, must be preserved. Sparing the mother bird teaches us to value the role mothers play, even though in our human existence, we have dominion over animals. 

 While Rabbi Hirsch’s approach is helpful in understanding the meaning of the mitzvah, I am still unsatisfied with the treatment of the eggs or babies, if they are not returned to the tree. Do you have a good answer?

See the follow up to this post here