By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

They come from Brooklyn. One person charges $150. Another charges $300, while a third charges $500. They come to your house and bring you to their prime locations. Most of them come to your house and drive you to the spot where the nests are. There is a supermarket in Brooklyn, for example, that has a number of nests.

The reason? There are numerous sources that state that the Mitzvah of Shiluach HaKan is a segula for having children. The idea is that just as we are having mercy and compassion for the mother bird, so too will Hashem have mercy and compassion upon us and give us children.

The verses in Parshas Ki Saitzai state, “If you come across a bird’s nest along the way, in a tree or upon the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall surely let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, in order that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.”

The words, “but the young you may take for yourself” is understood metaphorically by the Midrash Rabba (Dvarim Ki Tsaitzai 6:6) and the Yalkut Shimoni (930) that by performing this Mitzvah and showing compassion toward the mother – you will have young that you may take for yourself – that is you will have children.

The problem is that the case in the Chumash and the use of shiluach haKan for a segulah may not necessarily be analogous.

In the case of the Chumash, the person performing the Mitzvah wanted the egg to eat. No one should question the segulah of this Mitzvah when one actually needs the eggs. However, in modern times, most people performing the Mitzvah as a Segulah do not actually need the chicks or the eggs and end up not eating it. Is there still a Mitzvah when one doesn’t actually need the eggs or chicks?

It seems that there are some very different halachic positions in the Poskim in regard to this question. Below we find an explanation of them.

STILL AN OBLIGATION

Rav Yair Bacharach (1639-1702) in his Chavas Yair (#67) rules that there is still an obligation to perform the Mitzvah – even when he has no need for the chicks or the eggs. In his opinion, one should take the eggs afterward and perform the Mitzvah.

In a similar vein, Rav Tzvi Hersh Ashkenazi (1656-1718), author of the Chacham Tzvi (#83) seems to hold that it is an obligation even if one does not need the chicks. Indeed, this is the way Rabbi Akiva Eiger in his glosses to Shulchan Aruch (YD 292:1) understands him. Rav Chaim Yoseph Dovid Azulai, the Chida, (1724-1806) in his Birchei Yoseph (YD 292:8) also writes that it is obligatory, citing the words of the Arizal too. Yet he states that the indication of our Gemorah is that it is not the case.

NO MITZVAH

While many of the Acharonim seem to take the position that it is obligatory, shockingly enough, the view of the Rishonim is in stark contrast to this position. This is something that is highly irregular because Acharonim usually do not argue with the positions found in the Rishonim. The Ran in Chulin (139a) writes explicitly that one is exempt from the Mitzvah if he does not wish to take the chicks or the eggs. It is likewise clear from the words of the Baalei Tosfos (34a “Maakeh”) that there is no obligation of performing the Mitzvah when he has no need for the eggs (otherwise, the Baalei Tosfos could have provided a much easier example of a case they were looking for). The Meiri, as well (Chullin Chapter 12 p. 493), writes that there is no Mitzvah to take the chicks simply to fulfill the Mitzvah of Shiluach HaKan.

The Chazon Ish (YD 175:2) also states that there is no obligation when the person does not want the chicks or the eggs.

PERHAPS FORBIDDEN

There is a fascinating responsum of the Chasam Sofer on the matter (Orech Chaim Vol. I #100) where he goes back and forth on the reasons behind the Mitzvah and concludes “according to the Rambam he has not fulfilled his Mitzvah – it is found that he has made himself act cruelly for no purpose and one who makes himself overly observant in this matter – the spirit of the Rabbis is not with him and he should not do it.”

The underlying issues are of course, Tzaar Baalei Chaim – causing unnecessary pain to Hashem’s creatures. Our Gemorah and the Rishonim explain that the reason for the Mitzvah is to arouse compassion within us so that we not be cruel. The Zohar (Tikkunei Zohar #6 and Zohar Chadash, Midrash Rus) provides a different explanation for the Mitzvah and that is that the pain of the mother bird arouses Hashem’s compassion toward us.

The Chasam Sofer writes that whenever the Kabbalistic position (nistar) argues with our Gemorah’s position (niglah – or revealed Torah) – the halacha is in accordance with the revealed Torah.
Some opinions reject this position of the Chasam Sofer (See for example, Minchas Elazar (3:43) and Aruch Hashulchan (YD 292:3), while others (Torah Lishma #277) seem to stand behind it.

CONCLUSION

Each person should check with his or her own Posaik or Rav, but since the matter may be, in fact, a prohibition, when one actually does not want the eggs, it perhaps may best to follow the view of the Chasam Sofer and do nothing. It is this author’s opinion that money spent on the performance of this segulah could also be spent on the Talmud Torah of children and that too can be a remarkable merit in having children. Once again, however, one should consult with one’s own Rav or Posaik.

The author can be reached at [email protected]