Negative Commandment 306 (Digest)
Taking a Mother Bird together with Her Young
"Do not take the mother [bird] together with the children"—Deuteronomy 22:6.
When we encounter a bird's nest, it is forbidden to take the mother together with the chicks.
Unabridged English Text of this Mitzvah »
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> The 306th prohibition is that we are forbidden from taking the entire bird's nest — the mother and the chicks — when hunting.;)
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> The source of this prohibition is G‑d's statement,;) "You must not take the mother along with her young." This prohibition has a remedial positive commandment,;) "You must first chase away the mother." If one can no longer send her away and thereby fulfill the positive commandment — e.g., if the mother died before she could be sent away — the punishment is lashes.
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> The details of this mitzvah are explained in the end of tractate Chulin.;)
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> Footnotes
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> According to Kapach, 5731, note 81, the Rambam means to exclude the case where one is merely passing by and doesn't need them for food. In such a case, one should leave them alone, as the Rambam writes in Guide to the Perplexed, Part 3, Chapter 48.
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> 2.
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> Deut. 22:6.
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> 3.
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> Ibid. 22:7. See P148.
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> 4.
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> 138ff.