shiluach hakan becomes a case of animal abuse in Lakewood

The mitzva of "shiluach hakan", sending away a mother bird and taking the chick or eggs, is an unusual one, not frequently performed. It is also not well understood as it instructs what seems to be a certain amount of cruelty yet brings with it a promise of longevity. It is also almost always done with a level of uncertainty - nowadays, as most of us in the Jewish community are not farmers or ranchers, we rarely know definitely if the bird we are looking at in a nest is the right bird for the mitzva - the female rather than the male, a kosher bird, if the nest is high in a tree we might not even be sure there are eggs in the nest... yet when the occasion befalls us, we rush to perform this "rare" mitzva to the best of our ability.

A shiluach hakan situation in Lakewood was pretty funny and weird when it became a public spectacle.

According to NJ 101.5, a report was filed with the Division of Fish and Wildlife about a family that came daily, over a period of a number of days, to beat and harass a goose in her nest near a pond - "perhaps to steal the eggs".

The article knows nothing about shiluach hakan and thus makes no mention of it. It is thought by the authorities and the witnesses that this family and the relevant children simply like to abuse geese, and maybe like goose eggs and need to steal them from a live nest.

The witness, a woman who wants to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution form the community, sits in an office overlooking the pond with the nesting geese. She witnessed a bunch of kids screaming at the geese and clapping and advancing towards the geese. Thinking nothing of it at the time, she later saw more kids coming, this time swinging sticks around the geese. She witnessed similar scenes on several consecutive days. She even witnessed them actually hit the goose with sticks and knocking it off its nest and into the water. Thankfully when authorities came the goose was examined and found to not be hurt.

Shiluach Hakan can look really strange to the public that knows nothing about it!

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------