Mitzvotמצוות

Ramban on Shiluach Hakein: The Mother Bird Mitzvah

The Ramban's interpretation of the commandment to send away the mother bird before taking her young. Sources explore the theological and practical reasons underlying this mitzvah, including considerations of species preservation and divine sovereignty over creation.

כִּי הַטַּעַם בִּשְׁנֵיהֶם לְבִלְתִּי הֱיוֹת לָנוּ לֵב אַכְזָרִי

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What the sources say

The top-ranked source for this question is the Ramban (Devarim 22:6), who links shiluach hakein directly to the parallel prohibition of slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day (Vayikra 22:28), arguing that both laws share a common rationale.

The Ramban (Devarim 22:6) offers two possible reasons for these mitzvot: either they are designed so that we do not cultivate a cruel heart and learn to show no compassion, or the Torah forbids a form of destruction that would effectively uproot an entire species — for one who kills a mother together with her young on the same day, or takes them while they still have the freedom to fly, acts as if he is wiping out that species entirely.

The Ramban (Devarim 22:6) then addresses the Talmudic ruling (Berakhot 33) that one who says 'Your mercy extends even to a bird's nest' is silenced — and his reading of that ruling is that the Gemara's concern is precisely that the mitzvah should not be reduced to divine compassion alone, since the Torah's commandments are decrees, not merely expressions of God's feelings toward particular creatures.

By contrast, the Rambam in the Guide for the Perplexed (III:48) grounds shiluach hakein squarely in preventing pain to the mother bird, reasoning that the mother, sent away before her eggs or young are taken, does not witness the act and is therefore spared grief — and from this he derives a fortiori that if the Torah guards against causing such distress even to animals, how much more must we guard against causing it to human beings.

Source 1 · Rishonim

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Ramban on Deuteronomy 22:6

רמב"ן על דברים כ״ב:ו׳

Ramban on Deuteronomy 22:6

Ki Teitzei

The Ramban's primary discussion of shiluach hakein in parshas Ki Teitzei. He rejects the Rambam's view that the mitzvah is purely to inculcate merciful character traits, arguing instead that the Torah does not concern itself with the suffering of animals per se. Rather, the reason is to prevent the complete annihilation of a species — we may take the young but not the mother too, so that the species can perpetuate. The act is a gesture acknowledging that creation belongs to God and that we may not exercise total dominion to the point of exterminating a kind.

כִּי יִקָּרֵא קַן צִפּוֹר לְפָנֶיךָ, גַּם זוֹ מִצְוָה מְבֹאֶרֶת, מִן אֹתוֹ וְאֶת בְּנוֹ לֹא תִשְׁחֲטוּ בְּיוֹם אֶחָד (ויקרא כב כח), כִּי הַטַּעַם בִּשְׁנֵיהֶם לְבִלְתִּי הֱיוֹת לָנוּ לֵב אַכְזָרִי וְלֹא נְרַחֵם, אוֹ שֶׁלֹּא יַתִּיר הַכָּתוּב לַעֲשׂוֹת הַשְׁחָתָה לַעֲקֹר הַמִּין אע"פ שֶׁהִתִּיר הַשְּׁחִיטָה בַּמִּין הַהוּא, וְהִנֵּה הַהוֹרֵג הָאֵם וְהַבָּנִים בְּיוֹם אֶחָד אוֹ לוֹקֵחַ אוֹתָם בִּהְיוֹת לָהֶם דְּרוֹר לָעוֹף, כְּאִלּוּ יַכְרִית הַמִּין הַהוּא. וְכֵן מָה שֶׁאָמְרוּ (ברכות לג) לְפִי שֶׁעוֹשֶׂה מִדּוֹתָיו שֶׁל הקב"ה רַחֲמִים וְאֵינָן אֶלָּא גְּזֵרוֹת, לוֹמַר שֶׁלֹּא חָס הָאֵל עַל קַן צִפּוֹר וְלֹא הִגִּיעוּ רַחֲמָיו עַל אוֹתוֹ וְאֶת בְּנוֹ, שֶׁאֵין רַחֲמָיו מַגִּיעִין בְּבַעֲלֵי הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַבַּהֲמִית לִמְנֹעַ אוֹתָנוּ מִלַּעֲשׂוֹת בָּהֶם צָרְכֵּנוּ, שֶׁאִם כֵּן הָיָה אוֹסֵר הַשְּׁחִיטָה אֲבָל טַעַם הַמְּנִיעָה לְלַמֵּד אוֹתָנוּ מִדַּת הָרַחְמָנוּת וְשֶׁלֹּא נִתְאַכְזֵר, כִּי הָאַכְזָרִיּוּת תִּתְפַּשֵּׁט בְּנֶפֶשׁ הָאָדָם, כַּיָּדוּעַ בַּטַּבָּחִים שׁוֹחֲטֵי הַשְּׁוָרִים הַגְּדוֹלִים וְהַחֲמוֹרִים, שֶׁהֵם אַנְשֵׁי דָּמִים זוֹבְחֵי אָדָם, אַכְזָרִים מְאֹד.

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Guide for the Perplexed III:48

מורה נבוכים, חלק ג' מ״ח — ד"ה 8 שילוח הקן

Guide for the Perplexed, Part 3 48:11

The Ramban explains that the mitzvah of shiluach hakein stems from concern that the mother bird should not suffer pain at seeing her young taken; moreover, since eggs and nestlings are typically unfit for food, the commandment often results in leaving the entire nest untouched, and if the Torah considers the emotional distress of animals and birds, it certainly demands much greater care regarding human suffering—this view follows the opinion that Torah commandments have rational reasons, not merely divine will.

8 שילוח הקן) זהו גם הטעם לשִלוח הקן. כי בדרך כלל הביצים שדגרו עליהן והאפרוחים הנזקקים לאם אינם ראויים למאכל. וכשישלח את האם והיא תימלט לבדה, לא תצטער בראיית לקיחת הבנים. ואפשר שדבר זה יביא, ברוב המקרים, לעזיבת הכול, משום שמה שיילקח אינו ראוי למאכל בדרך כלל. ואם התורה מתחשבת בייסורים הנפשיים האלה בבהמות ובעופות, על אחת כמה וכמה לגבי פרטי מין האדם בכללותו. אל תקשה עלי מאמירתם (של חכמינו) ז"ל: "האומר: 'על קן צפור יגיעו רחמיך' [...משתקין אותו]" (משנה ברכות ה,ג). כי זוהי אחת משתי הדעות שהזכרנו (ג,כו1), כוונתי לדעתו של מי שסבור שאין לתורה טעם אלא רצון גרידא, ואילו אנחנו הלכנו דווקא אחרי הדעה השנייה.

The same reason applies to the law which enjoins that we should let the mother fly away when we take the young. The eggs over which the bird sits, and the young that are in need of their mother, are generally unfit for food, and when the mother is sent away she does not see the taking of her young ones, and does not feel any pain. In most cases, however, this commandment will cause man to leave the whole nest untouched, because [the young or the eggs], which he is allowed to take, are, as a rule, unfit for food. If the Law provides that such grief should not be caused to cattle or birds, how much more careful must we be that we should not cause grief to our fellowmen. When in the Talmud (Ber. p. 33b) those are blamed who use in their prayer the phrase, “Thy mercy extendeth to young birds,” it is the expression of the one of the two opinions mentioned by us, namely, that the precepts of the Law have no other reason but the Divine will. We follow the other opinion.

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