Parshat Shemini

A guten Erev Shabbos

“And the chasidah, the anafah, and the duchifat, and the atalef.”

Rashi explains: why is it called “chasidah”? Because it does kindness with its friends with its food. The source for this is the Gemara in Chullin 63.

However, we find the following in the Gemara in Bava Metzia 40: 
If someone deposits produce with his friend, over time, there will be some loss of produce, because it is known that mice eat from it. The Chachamim say that the loss is calculated according to the amount of produce that was deposited.

Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri asks: 
Why is the amount of produce important with regard to the mice? They eat until they are satisfied, whether there is a lot or a little. Therefore, the loss caused by mice should be the same either way.
Tosafos explains:

“The reason of the Chachamim is explained in the Yerushalmi: these mice are wicked; when they see a lot of food, it’s not enough for them to eat themselves, rather they call their friends to eat with them.”

Meaning, the mice are called “wicked” because when they find a lot, they don’t just eat it themselves, but they call others to join them. Therefore, according to the Chachamim, the loss depends on the amount that was deposited.
Therefore, we can ask the following:
Isn’t this a contradiction? On the one hand, the chasidah is called “chasidah” because it shares its food with its friends; and on the other hand, the mouse is called “wicked” for sharing its food with others?

At first glance, we could say that the mouse is called wicked because it takes what is not its own and even gives of it to others.
However, is it a chidush to say that the bird knows to take its food specifically from hefker (ownerless food)? On the contrary, we see in Rashi regarding the bird offering that the intestines are thrown away, because birds steal their food.
This is a quote of Rashi there:

“By a bird, …..and he shall throw away the intestines, which ate from theft.”

So what is the difference between the chasidah and the mouse?
I found, with Hashem’s help, in the Imrei Emes in the Likutim (Ibid), that he explains this question in two ways:
The first explanation of the Imrei Emes is based on the approach mentioned above, but he adds the following clarification: the difference is that birds generally eat their food from ownerless fields, whereas mice almost always eat from food that they steal.
(Based on this, we can explain that by the olas ha’of, the intestines of the bird are thrown away since we want to avoid bringing even the slightest trace of gezeilah onto the Mizbeach.)
The Holy Imrei Emes brings another very interesting approach based on the language of the Yerushalmi mentioned above: the mice invite their friends only when there is a lot of food, but if there is only enough for themselves, they don’t invite others; instead, they keep it for themselves. 
However, concerning the chasidah. It says it “shares its food with its friends,” meaning whatever food it has, it shares. That is true kindness.
And this can be learned from Rashi in Chullin 63:

“Chasidus - it shares its food,” meaning from its own food.

The Imrei Emes zt” l didn’t just say this idea; he truly lived it. The Beis Yisrael used to tell that in the year 1915, during World War I, there was a terrible hunger, also in the home of the Imrei Emes.
Whenever his father had even a small piece of bread, he would share it with others, and while he would do so, he would repeat this idea from the Likutim: that the mouse is called wicked because it shares only after it has enough for itself, but the chasidah is called chasidah because it shares from whatever it has.
Based on this, the baalei mussar ask: if the chasidah has such good traits, why is it considered a non-kosher bird? The Rishonim and the Sefer HaChinuch explain that non-kosher animals are forbidden so that we distance ourselves from their bad traits, and by not eating them, they will not affect us.
And they answer: although the chasidah shares its food, it only does kindness “to its friends,” meaning only to those in its circle. But to those it doesn’t know, it ignores them. That is a negative trait that we must distance ourselves from, because true kindness is to help anyone who needs it, without distinction.
We see from this תשובה how important it is to learn about middos and to really understand each middah. We have a special opportunity to do so this Shabbos, when all of Am Yisrael begins learning Pirkei Avos, especially in the days leading up to Shavuos, as it says, derech eretz kodmah laTorah.

On behalf of the entire Sheilos team, we wish you a wonderful Shabbos and Git Zimmer