Shiluach haken

Shiluach haken
Halakhic texts relating to this article
Torah:Deuteronomy 22:6
Babylonian Talmud:Chullin 140b
Mishneh Torah:Hilchot Schechita 13
Shulchan Aruch:Yoreh Deah 292

Shiluach haken (Hebrew: שִׁלּוּחַ הַקֵּן, romanizedšillūḥ haqqēn, lit.'sending away of the nest') is one of the 613 commandments in Judaism that enjoins one to scare away a mother bird before taking her young or her eggs.

The Torah promises longevity to someone who performs this commandment. In the Talmud, Elisha ben Abuyah is reputed to have fallen into disbelief after witnessing a boy dying from the fall after doing this commandment.