QUESTION: What is the mitzvah of shiluach haken?

ANSWER: In Parshas Ki Seitzei (Devarim 22:6-7) the Torah commands us that if we happen upon a bird’s nest and the mother bird is sitting over her fledglings or eggs, we may not take the fledglings or eggs with the mother present. Before taking the offspring, the mother must be sent away.

The mitzvah only applies to kosher birds that are ownerless. If one finds a nest in one’s attic or in a tree that is in their fenced-in yard, there is no mitzvah to send away the mother, since the eggs were already acquired by virtue of their being on one’s property. Shach (YD 292:5) points out that to acquire the eggs on one’s property, the mother bird must have left the nest at least one time after laying the eggs. Just like one is forbidden to take the eggs without first sending away the mother, so too one’s property is incapable of acquiring the eggs on your behalf until the mother leaves. If one owns the nest but wishes to perform the mitzvah anyway, he may do so by first declaring the nest hefker (ownerless).

As a reward for performing this mitzvah, the Torah promises longevity. In addition, various Midrashic texts (Midrash Rabbah, Tanchuma, and Yalkut Shimoni) ascribe other rewards to the mitzvah, such as being blessed with children and finding an appropriate shidduch.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.