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Why does a Midrash compare Pharaoh's treatment of the Jews to violating shiluach hakan? The shiur argues that shiluach hakan isn't about sparing the mother bird's feelings, but ensuring everything fulfills its purpose—eggs as food, birds producing more. Pharaoh's sin was twofold: destroying Jewish children (denying their tachlis) and abandoning rather than properly sending the parents—leading to measure-for-measure punishment.
The shiur opens with a fascinating Midrash on Parshas Beshalach that compares Pharaoh's treatment of the Jewish people to a violation of shiluach hakan (sending away the mother bird). The Midrash states that Hashem (ה׳) wrote in the Torah (תורה) "shalach tishalach es ha'em v'es habanim tikach lach" (send away the mother and take the children), yet Pharaoh sent away the parents (the avos) while throwing the children into the Nile (banim hislachtu la'ya'or). As measure-for-measure punishment, Hashem threw Pharaoh into the sea while taking his daughter Basya to Gan Eden. Rabbi Zweig identifies a fundamental difficulty with this Midrash: if the violation of shiluach hakan is about preventing the mother's anguish at seeing her children taken, then Pharaoh's primary sin should have been killing the children in front of the parents, not sending the parents away afterward. The sequence and emphasis of the Midrash seem backwards. This forces a reexamination of what shiluach hakan is truly about.
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Why does the Midrash connect Pharaoh's expulsion of the Jews to the mitzvah of shiluach hakan? The shiur develops a chiddush that Pharaoh's sin wasn't only drowning the children, but the insensitivity of expelling the parents afterward. The deeper analysis reveals that Pharaoh may have valued the Jews greatly and wanted to control them—making his expulsion an act of tremendous cruelty, not liberation.
Why does Moshe respond to the splitting of the sea with shirah rather than praise or thanksgiving? Rashi's use of "al libo" reveals that shirah is an emotional expression—a response of love to love. When Hashem shows personal care, the only adequate response is "I love You too," not mere gratitude or praise, and this principle applies to all relationships.
Parshas Beshalach
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