This mitzvah (shiluach ha’kein) is an extension of the mitzvah not to slaughter oso v’es b’no b’yom echad, not to slaughter an ox or a sheep and its offspring on the same day. On the surface, the Torah seeks to teach us to be compassionate even to the feelings of an animal. Chazal (Berachos 33a) teach that one silences the individual who says, Al kan tzipor yagiu rachamecha, “Your mercy extends even to a bird’s nest,’ because he insinuates that the attributes of Hashem are exclusively mercy, when, in fact, they are exclusively decrees. Hashem did not enact decrees, such as shiluach ha’kein and oso v’es b’no out of mercy, or, as Ramban explains, limnoa osanu mi la’asos ba’hem tzarcheinu, “to prevent us from fulfilling our needs through using them for our benefit.” Had this been true, Hashem would have forbidden us from slaughtering animals altogether; rather, the reason for the Torah’s prevention of these acts is in order to teach us the trait of mercy and that we should not be cruel toward our fellowman. It is not about Hashem’s compassion; it is about ours.
Likewise, we find with regard to an ir ha’nidachas, a city that fell prey to idol worship, the entire city must be executed. The Torah adds (Devarim 13:18), “And He will give you mercy and be merciful to you and multiply you.” The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh writes that Hashem knows that taking such severe action against our co-religionists can generate a deficient, cruel nature within those who carry out the grizzly task. Thus, He Who is the Source of all mercy will imbue them with (an extra dose of) mercy to counteract whatever feelings of cruelty his actions might have generated. Once again: it is all about us.
The Torah prohibits us from accepting male converts from the nations of Ammon and Moav because: they did not greet us with bread and water when we passed their lands on our way to Eretz Yisrael; and they hired the evil Bilaam to curse us (Devarim 23:4). Indeed, these are two reasons, which on the surface have nothing to do with one another. Furthermore, Ammon and Moav’s lack of kindness precedes their machinations to harm us mortally. Does a relationship exist between these two reasons?
Bilaam represents evil incarnate, moral profligacy at its very nadir. How can he be compared to nations whose lack of kindness and human decency determined their exclusion from the Jewish People? Horav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi, zl, delves deeply into the Bilaam psyche, as well as that of Ammon and Moav, demonstrating that, indeed, a relationship exists between the two.
When the Torah classifies a person as wicked, this means that his very core is evil. Thus, if someone like Bilaam approached us for a path to full teshuvah, repentance, we would instruct him to: cease all sinful behavior; perform mitzvos; daven; and perform acts of lovingkindness. Despite executing all that is demanded of him, will Bilaam become “ois Bilaam,” a new person no longer associated with the evil that defined him? Absolutely not! The “Bilaam factor” is still a part of him, and, at any time, if things do not go his way, it can emerge in all its ugliness. Expunging deficient character traits requires more than superficial repentance, prayer and acts of lovingkindness. It demands penetrating self-reflection, consistent effort and spiritual guidance. This does not negate the initial motivation which includes self-awareness and behavior modification. One needs to confront the root causes of his evil tendencies, understand them and restrain them. Otherwise, change is only superficial and temporary.
To determine whether Bilaam has effected a true change, one would have to observe how he acts in other circumstances. Does the evil that lurks beneath the surface emerge and prevent him from acting appropriately, or, has he really changed? Let us look at Moav, the nation that hired Bilaam to curse us. While their evil refusal to give us bread and water is not sufficient reason to bar them from conversion, it, together with their hiring Bilaam, demonstrates their evil through and through. Moav has an evil streak that is intrinsic to its essence. Teshuvah and a desire to convert will not be sufficient.
