A Mitzvah That Carries a Promise
A couple waiting years for a child. A family davening for a refuah sheleimah. These are the deepest tefillos a person can carry.
The Torah, in Parshas Ki Seitzei, gives us a mitzvah unlike almost any other. If you come across a bird sitting on her nest, with chicks or eggs beneath her, you must send the mother away before taking the young. Two pesukim. A simple act. And yet the Torah attaches to it one of the most explicit promises in all of Chumash: “so that it will be good for you, and you will lengthen your days.” This is shiluach haken (sending away the mother bird), found in Devarim 22:6–7. In the Torah itself, the mitzvah is linked to blessing and long life, and later midrashic tradition also associates it with the merit of children.
The Source for the Mitzvah of Shiluach HaKan
The pesukim below are included as a reference to the Torah source of the mitzvah and to the promise attached to it. They are not presented as a required text to recite before performing shiluach haken.
If you would like to pause for a personal tefillah in connection with this mitzvah, you may do so while keeping your specific bakashah in mind.
Ribono Shel Olam, I come before You with a heart full of hope and longing. You placed this mitzvah in Your Torah with a promise that it would be good for me and that my days would be long. I ask You now, in the zechus of this mitzvah and in the merit of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, please hear my tefillah. Grant me what my heart needs most. Open the gates of rachamim for me and for my family. Elokah d’Meir aneni.
If giving tzedakah, add:
In the zechus of this tzedakah I am giving for Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, may my prayer rise before You together with this act of chesed. Just as I am sending help to Your children in Eretz Yisrael, please send Your help to me and to those I love.
Devarim 22:6-7: The Full Text
כִּי יִקָּרֵא קַן צִפּוֹר לְפָנֶיךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ בְּכׇל עֵץ אוֹ עַל הָאָרֶץ אֶפְרֹחִים אוֹ בֵיצִים וְהָאֵם רֹבֶצֶת עַל הָאֶפְרֹחִים אוֹ עַל הַבֵּיצִים לֹא תִקַּח הָאֵם עַל הַבָּנִים
שַׁלֵּחַ תְּשַׁלַּח אֶת הָאֵם וְאֶת הַבָּנִים תִּקַּח לָךְ לְמַעַן יִיטַב לָךְ וְהַאֲרַכְתָּ יָמִים
Ki yikorei kan tzippor l'fonecho baderech b'chol eitz oi al ho'oretz efrochim oi veitzim v'ho'eim rovetzes al ho'efrochim oi al habeitzim lo sikach ho'eim al habonim.
Shalei'ach t'shalach es ho'eim v'es habonim tikach loch l'ma'an yitav loch v'ha'arachto yomim.
Ki yikarei kan tzippor lefanecha baderech bechol etz o al ha'aretz efrochim o veitzim veha'em rovetset al ha'efrochim o al habetzim lo tikach ha'em al habanim.
shale'ach teshalach et ha'em ve'et habanim tikach lach lema'an yitav lach veha'arachta yamim.
If, along the road, you chance upon a bird's nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, and the mother sitting over the fledglings or on the eggs, do not take the mother together with her young.
Let the mother go, and take only the young, in order that you may fare well and have a long life.
These two pesukim appear in Parshas Ki Seitzei, among the mitzvos that guide how a Yid moves through the world. Rambam, in Guide for the Perplexed 3:48, explains that this mitzvah trains a person away from cruelty: the Torah does not want the mother bird to experience the distress of witnessing her young being taken. In that sense, the mitzvah helps build compassionate and disciplined character, though like all mitzvos its full divine reason is greater than any single explanation.
Understanding the Pesukim
Ki yikorei kan tzippor l’fonecho “If you chance upon a bird’s nest before you”
The word yikorei comes from the root meaning to happen upon or encounter by chance. The Torah uses this word deliberately. You did not go looking for the nest. It appeared in your path. This mitzvah is presented as one that comes before a person in the course of life.
Lo sikach ho’eim al habonim “Do not take the mother together with her young”
The Torah sets a clear limit here: do not take the mother together with the children. Chazal discuss this mitzvah in depth, and the mefarshim explain that it teaches a person not to act with cruelty. The mother bird stays with her young, and the Torah tells you not to seize everything at once. There is a boundary here, and the mitzvah asks a person to honor it.
Shalei’ach t’shalach es ho’eim “You shall surely send away the mother”
The Torah uses doubled language for emphasis: you must send the mother away. This mitzvah is not about taking, but about letting go. A person steps back from what could have been taken and does only what Hashem commands. That act of restraint gives this mitzvah its power.
L’ma’an yitav loch v’ha’arachto yomim “In order that it will be good for you and you will have long life”
The root means to be good, and the root means to lengthen. The Gemara in Chullin 142a asks a famous question: the Torah promises long life for this mitzvah and also for honoring parents, yet we do not always see that promise fulfilled plainly in this world. The Gemara answers that the promise refers to the world that is entirely good and entirely long. At the same time, this pasuk has long been read with deep trust in Hashem’s promise of goodness. We do not always know how or when bracha will unfold, but we hold on to the Torah’s words with bitachon.
How to Perform the Mitzvah and Recite the Pesukim
There are two ways people engage with the mitzvah of shiluach hakan. The first is by actually performing the mitzvah: finding a bird sitting on her nest and sending her away before taking the eggs or chicks. If you have the opportunity, this is the mitzvah itself, and it is done with a bracha. Many communities have people who can help you find a nest and guide you through it properly.
The second way is by learning and reciting these pesukim. Even when you cannot physically perform the mitzvah, saying these words with the intention that Hashem should open the gates of rachamim carries tremendous weight.
Before you begin, set your kavanah. Picture the thing you are davening for. A child. A recovery. A good future. Then say the pesukim slowly, in Hebrew if you can, or in English. Focus on the Torah’s promise. After you finish, it is proper to combine your tefillah with tzedakah. Giving tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness ties your prayer to an act of chesed. You are not davening in the merit of Rabbi Meir. You are asking Hashem to hear your tefillah in the combined zechus of this great tzaddik and your own act of kindness. After the pesukim, you may add: Elokah d’Meir aneni.
Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness
The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 18a–18b) tells of Rabbi Meir’s rescue of Beruriah’s sister, who had been taken by the Romans and placed in a brothel. Rabbi Meir arranged her release through the guard, telling him that if danger came he should say, “Eloka d’Meir aneini” — “God of Meir, answer me” — and he would be saved. The Gemara relates that miracles were indeed performed in Rabbi Meir’s merit: Rabbi Meir demonstrated this when the dogs backed away, and later the guard himself was saved from execution after invoking those words. A captive was brought to safety through tefillah and the merit of Rabbi Meir.
When you give tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir, you are not davening to a person. You are asking Hashem to hear your tefillah in the combined merit of a great tzaddik and your own act of chesed. By helping another Yid, you are asking Hashem to help you in turn.
Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities was founded in 1799 to support Torah scholars and the poor in Eretz Yisrael. The scholars at Rabbi Meir’s kever in Tiberias daven for those who reach out to them. When you give, your tzedakah goes directly to families and talmidei chachamim who depend on it. And your name is carried in their tefillos.
Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir
Shiluach hakan is the mitzvah of sending away the mother bird before taking the young. It is called a segulah because the Torah explicitly connects it with blessing and long life. At the same time, the Gemara makes clear that this should not be presented as a guaranteed shortcut for a specific yeshuah; it is a mitzvah whose reward is real, but not always in the simple or immediate way people assume.
When a person happens upon a nest of a qualifying kosher bird species, with the mother sitting on eggs or chicks, the Torah says not to take the mother together with the young. Rather, one must send away the mother first, and only then may take the eggs or chicks. It does not apply to every bird nest; the halachic details depend on the species and on whether the bird is considered domesticated or owned. Because the details are specific, this mitzvah should be performed with guidance from a competent rav.
Reading and reflecting on these verses can be meaningful as Torah learning and can deepen your awareness of Hashem’s promise connected to this mitzvah. However, based on the plain meaning of the pesukim, the mitzvah itself is fulfilled through the actual act of sending away the mother bird in the case the Torah describes, not by reading the verses alone. Many people therefore value both: learning the pesukim with kavanah and, when appropriate, fulfilling the mitzvah itself in practice.
“Elokah d'Meir aneni” is the cry Rabbi Meir used when there seemed to be no way out. Giving tzedakah in his zechus alongside your tefillah is asking Hashem to hear your prayer in the combined merit of a great tzaddik and your own act of chesed. Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities supports Torah scholars and families in Eretz Yisrael.
This mitzvah has long been a meaningful moment of tefillah for many people. While the Torah itself promises, “that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days,” many have used this mitzvah as a time to ask Hashem for the yeshuos they need — including children, healing, parnassah, and shalom bayis. At the same time, Chazal understand the Torah’s promise in a deeper way and not simply as a blanket guarantee of any specific outcome in this world.
A Blessing for What You Are Waiting For
A prayer for a child, a refuah sheleimah, or any other mitzvah act is always heard by Hashem.
May Hashem hear your tefillah. May the zechus of this mitzvah, with its rare and beautiful promise, rise before the Kisei HaKavod on your behalf. May the rachamim you showed in this world, whether by fulfilling this mitzvah or by giving tzedakah for another Yid, come back to you a thousandfold. May you be zocheh to the Torah’s promise of goodness and long life.
You can submit a prayer request to the scholars at the tomb of Rabbi Meir in Tiberias at no cost — they will daven for you and your family by name through Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities. And if you would like to give tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus as well, your kindness will rise together with your prayer.
