QUESTION: How is the mitzvah of shiluach haken performed?

ANSWER: Before sending away the mother, one should have in mind to fulfill the mitzvah. There is a difference of opinion as to how one should send away the mother. According to the Rambam (Hilchos Shechita 13:5), one should grab the mother bird by its wings and send her away. Though the Torah prohibits capturing the mother bird when she sits on the nest, when the intention of grabbing the mother is to send her away, this is not considered an act of capturing. However, Shulchan Aruch (YD 292:4) rules in accordance with the Rosh and the Tur that one need not grab the mother bird. Rather, one may use a stick or the back of one’s hand to send away the mother. According to these Rishonim, the important factor is not that you grab the mother but that you cause her to fly away. The Binyan Tziyon (Chadashos 14) writes that some Rishonim disagree with the Rambam on two points. They maintain that if one grabs the mother and sends her away, a) the mitzvah is not fulfilled, and b) one transgresses the prohibition of taking the mother bird (even though one’s intent is to send the bird away). It is therefore best to use a stick or, as Rav Belsky zt”l advised, to push the mother bird off the nest with an open hand, the palm facing upwards so that the mother bird is not accidentally caught. Once the mother bird is chased away, one should pick up the eggs or chicks and take possession of them.

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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.