Hebrew Word Study – Upon the Ground  Al Ha’arats –  על הארצ  Ayin Lamed    Hei Aleph Resh Sade

The Least of the Commandments

Deuteronomy 22:6: “If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young.  You may take the young but be sure to let the mother go so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.”

Matthew 10:29:  “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father’s notice?”

Matthew 15:19: “And whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.”

Commentaries really have a difficult time with Deuteronomy 22:6.  The phrase “on the ground” uses the word “al” which is a preposition upon, on, over, against as well as many other words related to this.  This would suggest a bird’s nest in a tree or one that falls to the ground.  We may help ourselves to the eggs but we must let the mother bird go and not use her for dessert. This seems like such a minor thing, millions of birds why should we care about one bird?  Were they not given to us for food in the first place? Should we only consider oatmeal for breakfast?  Was it really interesting is that there are only two commandments that promise a long life If you obey it, this commandment and the one to honor your parents. Why are we promised a long life by showing respect to a bird?

Christian commentators tend to take a more practical interpretation.   They will say that the desert breeds a lot of bugs, scorpions, snakes, etc. and birds tended to keep these pests under control and to mess with a mother bird could drive a certain bird to extinction which will unleash swarms of bugs and other pestilences so you do not have a long life. Sounds good but birds are not the only creatures that feast on bugs and other pestilences, they deserve a little credit also if that is the reason behind the command.  

I was reading in the Talmud this morning a commentary on this passage in Brachot 33b.  Here the Talmud lists things we are not to pray for.  One of them is that we are not to pray or ask God for compassion.  The reason being is that God’s compassion is a given, you need not ask for it because it extends even to the mother bird and thus all laws of God stem from compassion and not decrees.  The sages teach that when one’s children see their father showing compassion to a bird they will learn to show compassion to him in his old age. 

Yet, are we to consider a violation of this law to be on the level of saying the law against murder or adultery?   The Talmud called this commandment a light commandment or the least of the commandments.  In fact, they called it the lightest or the least of the least in Shabbat 16:14. The Talmud goes on to say that in the keeping of the least of the commandments where the value of a mother bird is worth only a farthing such obedience will grant you a long life.  If such a reward is granted in the keeping of the least of the commandments, then how much more would God grant if you kept the laws which apply to those made in His image.  

In other words, this passage is not so much about protecting the balance of nature as it is to teach us compassion.  For if we can learn compassion from the least of these commandments, how much more will we show compassion to those created in God’s image.  Once more if God cares enough and has such compassion for the least of his creation to give us such a commandment, then how much more would God show compassion to us?  This was the teaching by rabbis during the time of Jesus.

It would seem that Jesus was referencing this teaching in Matthew 10:29: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father’s notice?” Indeed, one of my favorite songs is “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” and this little study is only to enhance the message of this song and not belittle it.  For if Jesus was indeed referring to this passage in Deuteronomy 22:6, then His message moves beyond just the compassion of God but the compassion that he wishes to teach us.   For if we had God’s compassion to care for a small bird-like He would, how much more will our compassion be for those made in His image. For if we break the least of these commandments and teach others to do the same we are neither learning compassion nor teaching compassion to others and as a result, we will be the least in the kingdom of God. Apparently, compassion ranks pretty high in God’s kingdom and we start to learn compassion by caring for the least of his creation.

This morning I drove a couple of children to daycare in my disability bus. These children all had cognitive disabilities.  Fifty years ago, we would have called them retarded.  A hundred years ago perfectly civilized people would have made these children and adults dance and demonstrate their disability to the entertainment and humor of others. Even Hollywood in its early days made fun of mentally disabled people like Sach in the Bower Boys who could not add two plus two and walked around with a silly grin.   These children were often hidden away by their parents and never allowed out in public.  They were referred to as the town fool.  Today the average person is repulsed by such treatment of the disabled and if anyone should make fun of such an individual they are quickly disgraced.  Parents are now allowing and even encouraging their children to play with disabled children wanting their children to learn about these disabilities and to respect them as equal humans. 

At the turn of the 20th century, the average life span of people in the United States was 50.  Today it is 78.7 years.  Did God grant us the advancements in medical science to increase our life span by over 1/3 in a hundred years because we have learned compassion for the least of our society?  Not only the mentally disabled but the physically disabled.  We have poured billions and billions of dollars to provide care for the disabled and give them some dignity in the last 100 years.  My job driving the bus for the disabled is an outgrowth of this compassion that our nation has been learning.  I know there are politics involved but let’s not go there. Then again, maybe there is no relationship, it is just a coincidence, but…?  We like to talk about how wicked people have become today but rarely do we talk about the other side of the coin and how compassionate we have become in the last 100 years.

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