Chasidut zu Dewarim 22:6
כִּ֣י יִקָּרֵ֣א קַן־צִפּ֣וֹר ׀ לְפָנֶ֡יךָ בַּדֶּ֜רֶךְ בְּכָל־עֵ֣ץ ׀ א֣וֹ עַל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֶפְרֹחִים֙ א֣וֹ בֵיצִ֔ים וְהָאֵ֤ם רֹבֶ֙צֶת֙ עַל־הָֽאֶפְרֹחִ֔ים א֖וֹ עַל־הַבֵּיצִ֑ים לֹא־תִקַּ֥ח הָאֵ֖ם עַל־הַבָּנִֽים׃
Wenn ein Vogel'Wenn du die Chance hast, vor dir zu sein, auf dem Weg, in einem Baum oder auf dem Boden, mit Jungen oder Eiern, und der Damm auf den Jungen oder auf den Eiern sitzt, sollst du den Damm nicht mit den Jungen nehmen;
Kedushat Levi
Deuteornomy 22,6. “if you chance to come upon a bird’s nest, etc.;” it is well known that there are two types of התעוררות, “animated awakenings;” one is a spiritually positive one, an urge to elevate one’s spiritual potential; the other is a sometimes overwhelming urge to embrace everything physical.
It is forbidden to use one’s spiritual urges in a manner that results in one’s leaving one’s livelihood and matters connected with it merely to G’d, i.e. to rely on miracles. Instead, one must strive to earn one’s livelihood by the work of one’s hands, leaving it to G’d to make one’s efforts in this direction successful. If one pursues this path it is reasonable to expect that one will be blessed with Divine inspiration at critical times in one’s life. G’d is in the habit of adding additional wisdom to those who use their common sense.
Still, as long as the child is very young, it is the mother’s task to act as the child’s immediate provider, whether by supplying milk from her body or from another source. It is only when a human being has not been equipped with any intelligence at all, that G’d will provide for such a helpless human being who cannot take steps in that direction himself.
Turey Zahav (Rabbi David ben Rabbi Sh’muel Halevi) in its glossary on the Shulchan Aruch section 1,1 quoting Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, author of the original “Shulchan Aruch, (ארבעה טורים) writes that it is up to us (the ones provided with intelligence) to “awaken the morning and not to wait for the morning to awaken us.”
This thought is alluded to in our verse above when the Torah speaks of “morning,” i.e. the word צפור in Aramaic is צפרא, “brightness, morning.”
If we were to translate our verse allegorically, it would go something like this: “when you experience spiritual awakening, brightness, indicating that G’d has paved the way for you to acquire insights, insights which reveal to you something about a world beyond our physical world, you will perform good deeds and study Torah in order to qualify for eventual membership in the society inhabiting that world. The אפרוחים, fledglings, mentioned in our verse as lying helpless in the nest, symbolize man as a helpless infant, dependent on the mother for its nourishment. We are taught through the parable of the Torah that we must not rely on being spoon fed by our mothers one day longer than necessary, but must learn to fend for ourselves. The Torah promises a reward, למען ייטב לך, for this initiative we will display in securing our nourishment by our own efforts unless we are disabled through no fault of ours. G’d derives satisfaction from our efforts to work for our livelihood.
Our sages in the Zohar III 7 state that the Israelites provide G’d’s sustenance for Him. His “sustenance,” of course, is not of a physical kind, but consists of the enjoyment He experiences when His creatures use their “animated awakening” in the proper manner. The response by G’d to our spiritual input corresponds to the quality and quantity (frequency) with which we do so. This is why the Torah speaks both of למען ייטב לך “in order that you may fare well,” and והארכת ימים, “you will enjoy long life.”
These “rewards,” i.e. blessings, are promised only if you yourself initiated your “animated spiritual awakening,” התעוררות. When the Torah speaks of אריכות ימים, “long days,” in describing a long life, instead of speaking of years, or attaining old age in the line: שלח תשלח את האם, the meaning of the word שלח, is similar to when one divests oneself of one’s clothing and throws it away. The Torah advises us urgently to divest ourselves of secular and mundane concerns if we wish to experience this “animated spiritual awakening”, התעוורות, which emanates in the celestial regions, described here as האם, “the mother,” so that we will find a spot for our feet to rest on in order to serve the Lord.
It is forbidden to use one’s spiritual urges in a manner that results in one’s leaving one’s livelihood and matters connected with it merely to G’d, i.e. to rely on miracles. Instead, one must strive to earn one’s livelihood by the work of one’s hands, leaving it to G’d to make one’s efforts in this direction successful. If one pursues this path it is reasonable to expect that one will be blessed with Divine inspiration at critical times in one’s life. G’d is in the habit of adding additional wisdom to those who use their common sense.
Still, as long as the child is very young, it is the mother’s task to act as the child’s immediate provider, whether by supplying milk from her body or from another source. It is only when a human being has not been equipped with any intelligence at all, that G’d will provide for such a helpless human being who cannot take steps in that direction himself.
Turey Zahav (Rabbi David ben Rabbi Sh’muel Halevi) in its glossary on the Shulchan Aruch section 1,1 quoting Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, author of the original “Shulchan Aruch, (ארבעה טורים) writes that it is up to us (the ones provided with intelligence) to “awaken the morning and not to wait for the morning to awaken us.”
This thought is alluded to in our verse above when the Torah speaks of “morning,” i.e. the word צפור in Aramaic is צפרא, “brightness, morning.”
If we were to translate our verse allegorically, it would go something like this: “when you experience spiritual awakening, brightness, indicating that G’d has paved the way for you to acquire insights, insights which reveal to you something about a world beyond our physical world, you will perform good deeds and study Torah in order to qualify for eventual membership in the society inhabiting that world. The אפרוחים, fledglings, mentioned in our verse as lying helpless in the nest, symbolize man as a helpless infant, dependent on the mother for its nourishment. We are taught through the parable of the Torah that we must not rely on being spoon fed by our mothers one day longer than necessary, but must learn to fend for ourselves. The Torah promises a reward, למען ייטב לך, for this initiative we will display in securing our nourishment by our own efforts unless we are disabled through no fault of ours. G’d derives satisfaction from our efforts to work for our livelihood.
Our sages in the Zohar III 7 state that the Israelites provide G’d’s sustenance for Him. His “sustenance,” of course, is not of a physical kind, but consists of the enjoyment He experiences when His creatures use their “animated awakening” in the proper manner. The response by G’d to our spiritual input corresponds to the quality and quantity (frequency) with which we do so. This is why the Torah speaks both of למען ייטב לך “in order that you may fare well,” and והארכת ימים, “you will enjoy long life.”
These “rewards,” i.e. blessings, are promised only if you yourself initiated your “animated spiritual awakening,” התעוררות. When the Torah speaks of אריכות ימים, “long days,” in describing a long life, instead of speaking of years, or attaining old age in the line: שלח תשלח את האם, the meaning of the word שלח, is similar to when one divests oneself of one’s clothing and throws it away. The Torah advises us urgently to divest ourselves of secular and mundane concerns if we wish to experience this “animated spiritual awakening”, התעוורות, which emanates in the celestial regions, described here as האם, “the mother,” so that we will find a spot for our feet to rest on in order to serve the Lord.
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Kedushat Levi
When G’d commanded us not to remove the mother bird away from her young in the nest, this is not due to considerations of mercy for the mother bird’s feelings, for if it were so the Torah did not have to issue such a commandment, for G’d Himself could have taken care either of the mother bird or its young without leaving their fate to our sense of compassion. G’d has many other ways and means of insuring these birds’ survival. Rather, the decree was issued to teach us mortals to have compassion on G’d’s creatures. When we keep this in mind Rabbi Eliezer Hakalir’s liturgical poem does not contradict the statement we quoted from the Talmud at all. [The reference in his poem to Leviticus 22,8 is so oblique that only outstanding scholars would have detected it. Ed.]
Seeing that every tzaddik, surely has assimilated the mussar contained in either Leviticus 22, 28 or Deuteronomy 22,6-7, so that when he blesses an Israelite he has surely done so with all the generosity his heart is capable of, he himself will also be blessed by heaven. This is the meaning of the line that he who displayed compassion for G’d’s creatures will be rewarded.
Bileam, even when engaged in blessing the Jewish people, was well aware that he was not doing so with a full heart, and that the words uttered by his lips were only words supplied to him by G’d, and did not come forth from his heart; thus he exclaimed that he was aware that the blessings he had bestowed would not accrue to him as a response from heaven.
When he said “I have taken blessing,” he meant that he had borrowed these words from G’d’s vocabulary, but ברך לא אשיבנה, “I am aware that I will not in turn be rewarded with blessing for myself.”
Seeing that every tzaddik, surely has assimilated the mussar contained in either Leviticus 22, 28 or Deuteronomy 22,6-7, so that when he blesses an Israelite he has surely done so with all the generosity his heart is capable of, he himself will also be blessed by heaven. This is the meaning of the line that he who displayed compassion for G’d’s creatures will be rewarded.
Bileam, even when engaged in blessing the Jewish people, was well aware that he was not doing so with a full heart, and that the words uttered by his lips were only words supplied to him by G’d, and did not come forth from his heart; thus he exclaimed that he was aware that the blessings he had bestowed would not accrue to him as a response from heaven.
When he said “I have taken blessing,” he meant that he had borrowed these words from G’d’s vocabulary, but ברך לא אשיבנה, “I am aware that I will not in turn be rewarded with blessing for myself.”
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Kedushat Levi
An alternate approach to the paragraph commencing with: וירא והנה באר בשדה, “he looked, and here there was a well in the field, etc.;” The Talmud Pessachim 88 draws attention to Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov each using a different simile when trying to condense their concept of G’d. Avraham saw G’d in terms of a הר, “mountain,” i.e. something far above our level towering above man. Yitzchok perceived him as שדה, a field, covering huge expanses of earth, but sharing earth with man. Yaakov perceived Him as בית, i.e. an intimate term, viewing G’d as if He were at home with human beings. A major difference between Yaakov’s concept of G’d and that of his forefathers, is that the former did not view G’d as being “at home” permanently on earth, whereas Yaakov did perceive Him as constantly accompanying man, much as a house is the symbol of a permanent presence. [The scriptural verses this is based on are: Genesis 22,14 בהר ה' יראה, “on the Mountain of Hashem, He may be seen.” Genesis 24,63 ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה, “Yitzchok went out into the field to meditate.” In Genesis 28,19 the Torah quotes Yaakov as naming the site ביתאל, “house of the Lord”. Yaakov felt that the time had come when G’d could have a permanent home on earth. However, this had been a vision brought about by his dream/prophetic insight. After awakening he realized that down on earth, where greed, envy and jealousy were still prevalent, to wit the huge rock making the water of the well inaccessible accept when all the interested parties were assembled simultaneously, that the time was not yet ripe for G’d to feel at home in such an environment. By removing the rock, Yaakov wanted to demonstrate to the shepherds that a better future could be in store for mankind. I have reworded the thought expressed by the author somewhat, and have omitted the comparison to the portion of קן צפור in Deut. 22,6. Ed.]
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