A Mother Bird & Your Parents

Hey friends! What's up Chevra?! Did you know the only two mitzvot in the entire Torah that promise you a long life are honoring your parents and sending away the mother bird — and the Vilna Gaon says they're opposites on purpose? This week we dive into one of the more mysterious mitzvot in Parashat Ki Teitzei: Shiluach HaKen, the sending away of the mother bird. We read through the actual pesukim in Devarim 22:6, walk through Rashi, and ask the big question — what is this mitzvah really doing here, and why does it come with the same reward as Kibbud Av Va'em? We look at two major approaches. The Rambam sees Shiluach HaKen as a lesson in compassion — don't take the eggs in front of the mother, develop your character, become more like Hashem who is the ultimate giver. We even connect it to the Rambam's famous teaching on tzedakah: better to give one dollar each to a hundred people than a hundred dollars to one, because the whole point is transforming yourself into a giver. Then the Vilna Gaon flips the whole thing. He points out that honoring your parents is pure chesed — warmth, giving, compassion. But sending away the mother bird? That's the opposite energy. You're driving her off and taking the eggs. It's an act that requires a kind of firmness. The Gaon says a true tzaddik is someone who can do both — be deeply compassionate AND be strong when Hashem calls for it. That's what Shleimus, real inner completeness, actually looks like. He connects this all the way to the Akeidah, the Binding of Isaac — explaining why the Torah says "now I know" after nine earlier tests. Until that moment, Avraham was all chesed. The Akeidah revealed the opposite midah, and only then was he a complete tzaddik. We close with a challenge for the Chevra: where are your blind spots? The Torah of Ki Teitzei is pushing us to stop coasting on our strengths and start owning the areas we keep avoiding. And the antidote to the Yetzer Hara that keeps us stuck? The Zohar on King David says it straight — Torah learning is what kills it. So let's get to work. If this opened something up for you, share it with someone who needs it and maybe hit subscribe so you never miss a shiur. ---------------------------------------------------------- 🔹Join Rabbi Moshe Chaim's Exclusive Content Sign up here 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@ChevraRavMosheChaim/join 🔹Join Rabbi Moshe Chaim's Private Chizzuk Group Sign up here 👉 https://subscribepage.io/join-the-chevra 🔹Visit the Website 👉 https://www.ravmoshechaim.com/ 🔹Newsletter 👉 https://ravmoshechaimchevra.substack.com/ 🔹Discover Beautiful Sacred Art 👉 https://bit.ly/chevra-art 🔹Join us in Yeshiva - in Jerusalem! APPLY HERE👉 https://foundations.aish.com ---------------------------------------------------------- #Torah #Judaism #Spirituality #JewishWisdom #KiTeitzei #ShiluachHaKen #KibbудAvVaem #VilnaGaon #Rambam #Tzaddik #RavMosheChaim #Chevra