Parashas Ki Teitzei: Ramban - On Cruelty to Animals

Originally posted in August 2013, but fixed in response to Rabbi Maroof's critique.

Artwork: Reveillark, by Jim Murray

Parashas Ki Teitzei: Ramban - On Cruelty to Animals

This week’s parashah features one of the most beloved mitzvos among animal enthusiasts: shiluach ha’ken (sending away the mother bird before taking her eggs). The Torah states:

If a bird’s nest happens to be before you on the road, on any tree, or on the ground – young birds or eggs – and the mother is roosting on the young birds or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall swiftly send away the mother and take the young for yourself, so that it will be good for you and will prolong your days. [1]

Contrary to popular belief, the mitzvah is not to go out of your way to find a mother bird just so that you can shoo her away and take her eggs. Rather, the mitzvah is that if you happen to find a mother bird and if you want the eggs, you are commanded to send the mother bird away before you take her eggs. [2]

All of the mitzvos have reasons. One might think that the reason Hashem commanded this mitzvah is in order to show mercy on the mother bird by sparing her the pain of seeing her young be taken away against her will. Sounds reasonable, right?

Wrong! This notion is so wrong, in fact, that Chazal instituted a halacha which is tailor-made to uproot it. The halacha states that if we ever come across a person leading the congregation in prayer who exclaims, “Have compassion on us, since You are the Compassionate One, for Your mercies reach [even] to a bird’s nest!” – we are instructed to silence him, thereby preventing his false view from spreading. [3]

The question is: Doesn’t this halacha seem a bit extreme? I mean, is it really so bad to view shiluach ha'ken as an expression of Hashem's mercy on the mother bird? After all, there are a number of mitzvos in addition to shiluach ha’ken which seem to have been commanded in order to show mercy towards animals. For example, this week’s parashah mentions the prohibition to muzzle an ox and a donkey together. [4] It is also prohibited to slaughter an animal and its offspring on the same day. [5] There are numerous prohibitions which Chazal instituted to prevent tzaar l’baalei chayim (causing animals to suffer). Moreover, there are numerous pesukim which speak of Hashem's mercy on animals, such as: “Hashem is good to all; His mercies are on all of His works,” [6] which Chazal interpret to mean that Hashem has mercy even on the lowliest of animals. [7] Considering all of this, what’s so bad about viewing shiluach ha’ken as an expression of Hashem’s mercy towards animals?

To answer this question, let us turn to the Ramban's explanation of shiluach ha'ken. The Ramban [8] explains the purpose of this mitzvah in no uncertain terms:

The reason for the prohibition [against animal cruelty] is to teach us the trait of mercy and that we should not become cruel, for cruelty spreads through the soul of man [expanding from cruelty towards animals to cruelty towards humans]. It is well-known that butchers who slaughter large oxen and deer are bloody men, "murderers of people (so to speak)" and are very cruel. And it is because of this that the Sages said: "The best of butchers is a partner of Amalek." [9] To sum it up: these commandments that deal with animals and birds are not expressions of compassion for the animals; rather, they are decrees for us, to guide us and to teach us good character traits.

The Ramban cites the Rambam [10] who extends this explanation to the other mitzvos which govern our treatment of animals. He expounds in detail upon the two mitzvos in our parashah: 

It is also prohibited to kill an animal with its young on the same day, in order that people should be restrained and prevented from killing the two together in such a manner that the young is slain in the sight of the mother; for the pain of the animals under such circumstances is very great. There is no difference in this case between the pain of a human being and the pain of other living beings, since the love and tenderness of the mother for her young ones is not produced by rationality, but by imagination, and this faculty exists not only in man but in most living beings. This law applies only to an ox and a lamb because out of all the domestic animals used as food, these alone are permitted to us, and in these cases the mother recognizes her young. 

The same reason applies to the law which commands us to shoo away the mother bird when we take the young. The eggs over which the bird sits and the young that are in need of their mother are generally unfit for food, and when the mother is sent away she does not see the taking of her young ones, and does not feel any pain. In most cases, however, this mitzvah will cause man to leave the whole nest untouched, because the young or the eggs which he is allowed to take are, generally speaking, unfit for food. If the Torah takes measures to prevent us from causing such grief to cattle or birds, how much more careful must we be that we should not cause grief to our fellow men! 

On the basis of the Ramban's explanation (and in the spirit of the Rambam cited above), we can now understand why it is such a severe mistake to characterize these mitzvos as expressions of Hashem’s mercy towards animals. It is true that Hashem acts with mercy towards all of His creatures. However, mitzvos were given as a means of perfecting human beings, morally and intellectually. If a person were to think that these mitzvos were designed for the benefit of animals, he is likely to miss out on the perfection that the mitzvos have to offer us. Thus, by halachically silencing the individual who publicly expresses this distorted notion of these mitzvos, Chazal are protecting the real reason for these mitzvos, which is to instill within us the qualities of mercy and compassion, and to remove cruelty from our midst. 

[1] Sefer Devarim 22:6-7
[2] According to the Rambam, the Torah only prohibits taking the mother together with the eggs or the young. According to Rashi, the only prohibition is to take the mother away from the eggs or the young – not vice versa. 
[3] Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides), Mishneh Torah, Sefer Ahava: Hilchos Tefilah 9:7
[4] Sefer Devarim 22:10
[5] Sefer Vayikra 22:28
[6] Sefer Tehilim 145:9
[7] Talmud Bavli: Bava Betzia 85a 

[8] Rabbeinu Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban / Nachmanides), Commentary on Sefer Devarim 22:6
[9] Maseches Kiddushin 82a 

[10] Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides), Guide for the Perplexed 3:48