[Avodah] Shiluach Hakan

[Moshe Shulman]

At 09:57 AM 2/6/2008, you wrote:
>From: "Alan Rubin" <alanrubin1 at gmail.com>
>While browsing in a bookstore a few days ago I came across a book on
>Shiluach Hakan. I was a little surprised that there was enough to
>write about this mitzvah to fill a book I had a brief look through its
>pages and I was a little surprised by some of what I read.

I am curious as to which sefer this is as my machitan wrote one.

>Now if you think about it there are three attitudes one could have to
>this mitzvah.
>1. To actively seek out nests to perform the mitzvah on.
>2. To not actively seek out nests but to perform the mitzvah if one
>came across one
>3. To only perform the mitzvah if one needed eggs from a nest.
>I had always assumed that No 3 was correct. And if the mitzvah is at
>least partly to do with minimising pain to animals then to send away
>the mother bird when one does not really need the eggs is
>contradictory. Now I only glanced at the book for a few seconds but I
>was surprised that there could even be a hava aminah that 1 was
>correct or that there was a body of opinion that 2 was correct.

Why would you think that?

>  I was also surprised that there was an opinion that everyone should
>try and perform this at least once in their life. There was a
>suggestion (R. Vital?) that one would be brought back as a gilgul
>until one had performed every mitzvah. According to this opinion would
>one be brought back as a gilgul if one had not performed the
>commandments relating to eshes yefas toar? Now I am aware of the
>promised rewards for shiluach hakan but I cannot believe we are
>supposed to be tramping through woods frightening birds to secure long
>life.

The view of the Ari is that one is required to do every mitzvah and 
one could be m'galgil if one did not.

Last year I was in Israel for a kiddish for a grandchild and before I 
left i spent some time with my machiton and he discussed this mitzvah 
with me. He had be zochah to arrange for a number of great rabbis to 
perform it (including the late Satmar Rov) Unfortunatly it was in the 
wrong time of the year for me to do it. He related a number of things 
to me. One was that the Zohar says that performing this mitzvah is 
makarav Moshiach. He said the explanation is that when a Jew performs 
the mitzvah The Satan comes and complains to HaShem that it is cruel. 
But rather then angering HaShem at the Yidden, he is angry at the 
Satan and complains that for this bird you have mercy but for my 
children who are in exile and suffer, you have no mercy? He also told 
me that the egg is placed in the cholent. (I believe he heard this 
from the great makibal Rabbi Yeshaya Asher Margulious.)

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Moshe Shulman   outreach at judaismsanswer.com 718-436-7705
Judaism's Answer:  http://www.judaismsanswer.com/

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