[Avodah] Live Bird and Dead Bird

[Micha Berger]

On Sat, Apr 09, 2011 at 09:31:44PM -0700, Harvey Benton wrote:
: What is the significance of dipping a live bird in the blood of its chaver (or 
: at least a fellow bird/ of the same or similar species) and then setting it 
: free?

Perhaps, just thinking out loud because I didn't want this to go any
longer without discussion...

YK is for a kaparah between man and HQBH.

In contrast, tzaraas is to spur teshuvah on a list of issues that come
up bein adam lachaveiro. (Most famously LH, but R' Shmuel bar Nachmani
(Eirukhin 16a) also lists retzhichah, shevuas shav and shevuas sheqer,
gilui arayos, gaavah, geneivah and tzarus ayin. All bein adam lachaveiro.

So, the person needs to get the lesson in empathy that perhaps can be
obtained by watching one bird feel the panic of smelling the other's
death.

But empathy is less of an issue for the aveiros bein adam laMaqom that
YK is mechaper.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             It's nice to be smart,
micha at aishdas.org        but it's smarter to be nice.
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