Misva #124: The Prohibition Against Detaching the Head of a Bird Sacrifice

In describing the procedure for the offering of a Hatat Ha’of (bird sin-offering), the Torah commands, “Lo Yabdil” – that the bird’s head may not be completely severed from its body (Vayikra 5:8). As opposed to animals brought as sacrifices, which are killed via standard Shehita – slaughtering the front of the neck – bird sacrifices are killed by a method called Melika. The Kohen thrusts his fingernail into the back of the bird’s neck, until it pierces the pipes extending from the bird’s mouth, killing the bird. (Melika ranked among the more difficult rituals performed in the Bet Ha’mikdash, as it required great skill to thoroughly pierce the bird’s neck with one’s fingernail.) In the case of a Hatat Ha’of, the Torah commands that the bird’s head must not be severed after Melika, but should rather remain attached to the body. The Sefer Ha’hinuch explains that the Torah prescribed Melika, as opposed to Shehita, when a bird sacrifice is offered because it is a quicker process. Bird sacrifices were generally offered by the poor, who could not afford to sacrifice an animal, and who also cannot afford too much time away from work. Therefore, the Sefer Ha’hinuch writes, when a poor person brings a sacrifice, it is important to expedite the process in order to minimize the amount of worktime he loses. The Torah thus instructed that the Kohen kill the bird with his fingernail, which obviates the need to look for and prepare a knife for slaughtering. For the same reason, the Torah allowed sacrificing the bird offering anywhere in the courtyard of the Bet Ha’mikdash, as opposed to requiring a particular location (as it does for other sacrifices), in order to save time so that the poor man can quickly return to work. Rather than require the Kohen to bring the bird to a specific location, the Torah allowed the Kohen to perform Melika anywhere, thus saving time. The Sefer Ha’hinuch then offers a second explanation for why Melika is performed on bird offerings, noting that Beneh Yisrael has been compared to a dove – one of the species offered as a bird sacrifice. Our nation is, by nature, stubborn and unyielding, a quality represented by the back of the neck, as in the expression, “Kesheh Oref” – “stiff-necked.” Breaking the bird offering’s neck thus symbolizes the need to “break” our stubbornness, to overcome our “stiff-necked” quality which causes us to refuse to obey G-d’s commands. As for the prohibition against severing the bird’s head, the Sefer Ha’hinuch explains that the offering appears more substantial and respectable when the bird is whole, and not separated into two detached pieces. The Torah wanted to ensure that an underprivileged individual who offers a bird sacrifice should at least have the satisfaction of his sacrificing appearing substantial, and not feel distressed at seeing his offering severed into pieces. It therefore commanded that the bird’s head should remain attached to the body. Interestingly, the Torah distinguishes in this regard between the two different kinds of bird sacrifice – the Hatat Ha’of and the Olat Ha’of (bird which is burned entirely on the sacrifice). The head of the Hatat Ha’of, which is offered for atonement, is not to be completely severed, whereas the head of the voluntary Olat Ha’of specifically is to be detached from the bird’s body. Rav Meir Shapiro of Lublin (Poland, 1887-1933) suggested that this alludes to the hostility with which other nations often view the Jewish People. When it comes to “Hatat Ha’of” – the sins, the wrongful actions which Jews sometimes commit – then “Lo Yabdil” – the hostile gentiles do not “separate,” they make no distinction between different Jews. They charge that the Jew who acted wrongly represents the entire Jewish Nation, and that all Jews conduct themselves that way. But when it comes to “Olat Ha’of” – the admirable things which Jews do, their outstanding achievements and accomplishments, then the hostile gentles “separate,” insisting that the Jew in question is special and exceptional, and does not represent the entire Jewish Nation. The Sefer Ha’hinuch notes that this command applies not only to Kohanim, but to all Jews. Anybody – a Kohen or non-Kohen – who detaches the head of the Hatat Ha’of after Melika transgresses this Biblical command, and is liable to Malkut.