[Avodah] Ki Seitzeh NOT Strictly for the Birds

[Cantor Wolberg]

If one happens to come upon a bird's nest in the wild and desires to take the eggs or the chicks, he or she must first shoo away the mother and then take the eggs or chicks. This is considered to be the easiest mitzvah in the Torah to observe. It costs no money, requires no preparation and takes a minimal effort.

The concept is that even in the animal world, there exists motherly feelings (which Rabbi Hirsch refers to as "the noblest profession in the world"), and the Torah wants us to be sensitive to these feelings. We may not cause the mother anguish by taking her offspring before her eyes. God wants people to be merciful. If we are sensitive to the feelings of a bird, then it should follow that we would be even more sensitive to the feelings of a human being. (Likewise if one has an animal, one must feed the animal first). The reward for this mitzvah articulated in the Torah is long life. The only other positive mitzvah which the Torah specifies the same reward, is honoring one's parents — which is considered one of the most difficult mitzvoth to observe. From the fact that the easiest and one of the hardest mitzvoth both receive the same reward, we realize that the reward for mitzvoth or the punishment for aveirot is beyond our ability to rate or even understand.


We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers. 											            Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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