Question: Should you recite a brachah when fulfilling the mitzvah of Shiluach HaKein?
Short Answer: Most poskim hold that no brachah is recited on Shiluach HaKein.
Explanation:
I. The Early Discussion
The Gemara does not discuss whether a brachah is made when performing the mitzvah of Shiluach HaKein. This query, however, was asked by the Raavad to Rav Yosef ben Pelat, likely in the late 1100s, as discussed in the Abudraham (Shaar Sh’lishi). The Abudraham records Rav Yosef’s answer – that there are multiple factors at play, in general, when deciding which mitzvos get brachos and which don’t. With respect to Shiluach HaKein, Rav Yosef wrote that there is no brachah because it is a “mitzvah ha’baah b’aveirah,” a mitzvah that stems from an aveirah (i.e., taking the mother bird). Notably, there is a hagahah (comment) on the Abudraham that questions this theory, as there is no aveirah if you take the mother with intent to send it away! Thus, the discussion in the Abudraham is inconclusive.
II. The Raavad Himself
The Raavad (Tamim De’im 179) himself writes generally about why some mitzvos get brachos, while others do not. In the midst of his discussion, he cites an opinion (likely Rav Yosef’s opinion) that holds that you do not make a brachah on any mitzvah that has a prohibition attached to the mitzvah, such as Shiluach HaKein, where it is prohibited to take the mother bird with the children (“lo sikach ha’eim al ha’banim”). The Raavad challenges this answer based on a few mitzvos, including maakeh, where there is a prohibition but still a brachah. Instead, the Raavad suggests his own distinction. Any mitzvah that is based on others, such as tz’dakah, hashavas aveidah, and bikur cholim, do not get a brachah. On the other hand, a mitzvah that is just performed by a person himself does get a brachah, such as Shiluach HaKein. Thus, the Raavad is clear that Shiluach HaKein does have a brachah.
Similarly, the sefer Shalei’ach T’shalach (p. 38) cites the Rokeach as holding that there is a brachah on Shiluach HaKein because it is a chok/g’zeirah, a mitzvah without a reason. [That Shiluach HaKein is not based on a reason is loaded with controversy; see Article #11].
The Rashba (sh”ut 18), on the other hand, adopts the ruling of Rav Yosef, that there is no brachah on Shiluach HaKein because it is a mitzvah ha’baah b’aveirah.
III. The Chida’s Clarifications
The Chida (Birkei Yosef, 292; Shiurei Brachah, and Kuntres Acharon), as well, addressed this issue, and tried to clarify the earlier rulings by the above-cited poskim. In Birkei Yosef, the Chida defends Rav Yosef and the Rashba, who hold that there is no brachah because Shiluach HaKein is a mitzvah ha’baah b’aveirah, as they simply mean that since in some cases (e.g., if you first take the mother bird to keep), it is a mitzvah ha’baah b’aveirah, there is never a brachah. This debunks the question of the hagahah in the Abudraham (see above), who the Chida writes is actually the Raavad!
The Chida further cites the K’neses HaG’dolah who understood that the Raavad himself agrees in practice that there is no brachah on Shiluach HaKein, but simply disagrees with the reasoning of Rav Yosef. Isn’t this a direct contradiction to the ruling of the Raavad himself in Tamim De’im, where he concludes that there is a brachah on Shiluach HaKein? The Chida in the Shiurei Brachah incredulously answers that these words are not from the Raavad and were added on the side by a reader and eventually accidentally were added to the text itself.
The Chida concludes that certainly no brachah is recited, as many other Rishonim agree with Rav Yosef.
IV. Other Reasons
Other Rishonim and Acharonim suggest additional reasons why no brachah is recited on Shiluach HaKein. First, the sefer Shalei’ach T’shalach (p. 39) cites the Meiri who writes that there is no brachah because Shiluach HaKein is only a mitzvah kiyumis, not chiyuvis. See Article #4. Rabbeinu Bachya gives a similar reason.
Second, the Pischei T’shuvah (Yoreh Dei’ah 292:2) cites the Toras Nesanel who explains that there is no brachah because it is safeik brachos l’hakeil, as we are not sure whether the eggs will be “mozros” (unfertilized), which itself is controversial whether Shiluach HaKein even applies. The Shalei’ach T’shalach cites other Acharonim who explain that the safeik is whether the mother bird will fly away before you even shoo it away.
Third, the Ohalei Yaakov (D’varim, p. 361) cites the Divrei Yatziv who explains that there is no brachah based on the Zohar’s reason for the mitzvah. See Article #1. The Zohar explains that by sending away the mother bird, we cause tremendous anguish to the mother and thereby cause her “sar” (representative mal’ach) to cry out to Hashem. Hashem in turn responds with mercy to all people suffering, especially the B’nei Yisrael. Since the mother bird suffers, there is no brachah on the mitzvah.
V. Practically Speaking
The Aruch HaShulchan (292:10) rules that we recite a brachah (“Asher kid’shanu...al Shiluach HaKein”) on Shiluach HaKein based on the Raavad. Indeed, the Aruch HaShulchan writes that the Rashba agrees with the Raavad, as the Rashba only holds that there is no brachah because it is mitzvah ha’baah b’aveirah. However, since in most instances there is no mitzvah ha’baah b’aveirah because you pick up the mother bird only with the intent to send it away and thus never violate any prohibition, a brachah should be recited in these instances even according to the Rashba. The Aruch HaShulchan says that if we are so concerned about a safeik, like the Pischei Teshuvah above, we should not make a brachah on t’filin, lest the klaf has become rubbed out and has become pasul.
However, almost all contemporary poskim disagree with the Aruch HaShulchan. The sefer Shalei’ach T’shalach notes that the Minchas Yitzchak, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Rav Elazar M.M. Shach, and Rav Chaim Kanievsky all held that no brachah is recited. He notes, though, that a brachah may be recited without sheim u’malchus.
Rabbi Ephraim Glatt, Esq. is the Associate Rabbi at the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, and he is a Partner at McGrail & Bensinger LLP, specializing in commercial litigation. Questions? Comments? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
