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Share(19) When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding the ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down. Are trees of the field human to withdraw before you into the besieged city? (20) Only trees that you know do not yield food may be destroyed; you may cut them down for constructing siegeworks against the city that is waging war on you, until it has been reduced.
~ What is the case presented?
~ What are the mitzvot in that case?
~ Complete the sentence:
If a Jewish person cannot destroy fruit trees during war, then in peaceful times____________________
~ The name of the principle created by these verses in the Torah is Bal Tashchit, "DO NOT DESTROY"
כי האדם עץ השדה]. שחייו של אדם (אינו אלא) מן האילן. ר' ישמעאל אומר, מכאן חס המקום על פירות האילן, ק"ו מאילן. ומה אילן שעושה פירות, הזהירך הכתוב עליו; פירות עצמם, על אחת כמה וכמה.
"Are trees of the field human" [from here we learn that] trees provide life to humans. R. Yishmael says: from here we learn the the Place is concerned even with the fruits of a tree, how much more so with the tree itself! And if the [Torah] text warns you against destroying a tree, which only produces fruit, how much more so (does it warn you against destroying) fruit itself!
Sifrei Devarim - Composed: Talmudic Israel/Babylon, 200 CE .
~ What is the logic presented by Rabbi Yishmael? Is the Torah text talking only about trees?
~ Look at the age of this text. Why is it important to know this is not a "new concept"?
~ If fruit spoils in your house, what can you do with it?
The Talmud was compiled between 200 and 700 CE.
According to this source, is the prohibition of Bal Tashchit restricted only to trees?
~ How can you recreate the name "do not destroy" to include what Rav Zutra says?
הַמְקָרֵע בְּגָדָיו בַּחֲמָתוֹ, וְהַמְשַׁבֵּר כֵּלָיו בַּחֲמָתוֹ, וְהַמְפַזֵּר מְעוֹתָיו בַּחֲמָתוֹ, יְהֵא בְּעֵינֶיךָ כְּעוֹבֵד עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה. שֶׁכָּךְ אוּמָּנוּתוֹ שֶׁל יֵצֶר הָרָע: הַיּוֹם אוֹמֵר לוֹ עֲשֵׂה כָּךְ, וּלְמָחָר אוֹמֵר לוֹ עֲשֵׂה כָּךְ, עַד שֶׁאוֹמֵר לוֹ עֲבוֹד עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וְהוֹלֵךְ וְעוֹבֵד.
One who rends his garments in his anger, or who breaks his vessels in his anger, or who scatters his money in his anger, should be like an idol worshipper in your eyes, as that is the craft of the evil inclination. Today it tells him do this, and tomorrow it tells him do that, until eventually, when he no longer controls himself, it tells him worship idols and he goes and worships idols.
~ Could you destroy things because you are angry? Why or why not?
Complete the sentence:
If when you are angry you can't destroy, when you are not angry ____________________________________________.
The root of this commandment is well-known - it is in order to teach our souls to love good and benefit and to cling to it. And through this, good clings to us and we will distance [ourselves] from all bad and destructive things. And this is the way of the pious and people of [good] action - they love peace and are happy for the good of the creatures and bring them close to Torah, and they do not destroy even a grain of mustard in the world. And they are distressed by all loss and destruction that they see; and if they can prevent it, they will prevent any destruction with all of their strength. But not so are the wicked - the brothers of the destructive spirits. They rejoice in the destruction of the world, and they destroy themselves - [since] in the way that a person measures, so is he measured; which is to say that he clings to it forever, as the matter that is written (Proverbs 17:5), "the one who rejoices in calamity, will not be cleared (of evil)." And the one who desires the good and rejoices in it, 'his soul will dwell in the good' forever. This is known and this is widespread.
~ The Sefer HaChinuch, or "Book of Education", was composed in Spain, on the 13th Century CE, by an anonymous writer.
~ How does the writer understand the basic reason of the mitzvah "Do not destroy"? What is his understanding about people and their nature?
“If …you should regard the beings beneath you as objects without rights, not perceiving God Who created them, and therefore desire that they feel the might of your presumptuous mood, instead of using them only as the means of wise human activity—then God’s call proclaims to you, “Do not destroy anything! Be a mensch! Only if
you use the things around you for wise human purposes, sanctified by the word of My teaching, only then are you a mensch and have the right over them which I have given you as a human…However, if you destroy, if you ruin, at that moment you are not a human…and have no right to the things around you. I lent them to you for wise use only; never forget that I lent them to you. As soon as you use them unwisely, be it
the greatest or the smallest, you commit treachery against my world, you commit murder and robbery against my property, you sin against Me!” …
In truth, there is no one nearer to idolatry than one who can disregard the fact that all things are the creatures and property of God, and who then presumes to have the
right, because he has the might, to destroy them according to a presumptuous act of will. Yes, that one is already serving the most powerful idols—anger, pride, and above all ego, which in its passion regards itself as the master of things.”
Rabbi Shampshon Rafael Hirsch wrote his book Horeb on 1838.
~ What is the connection that Rabbi Hirsch makes between "being a mensch" and not destroying?
~ Who owns the earth? What is our place in the earth?
(ח) אֵין קוֹצְצִין אִילָנֵי מַאֲכָל שֶׁחוּץ לַמְּדִינָה וְאֵין מוֹנְעִין מֵהֶם אַמַּת הַמַּיִם כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּיבְשׁוּ. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים כ, יט) "לֹא תַשְׁחִית אֶת עֵצָהּ". וְכָל הַקּוֹצֵץ לוֹקֶה. וְלֹא בְּמָצוֹר בִּלְבַד אֶלָּא בְּכָל מָקוֹם כָּל הַקּוֹצֵץ אִילַן מַאֲכָל דֶּרֶךְ הַשְׁחָתָה לוֹקֶה. אֲבָל קוֹצְצִין אוֹתוֹ אִם הָיָה מַזִּיק אִילָנוֹת אֲחֵרִים. אוֹ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁמַּזִּיק בִּשְׂדֵה אֲחֵרִים. אוֹ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁדָּמָיו יְקָרִים. לֹא אָסְרָה תּוֹרָה אֶלָּא דֶּרֶךְ הַשְׁחָתָה:
(ט) כָּל אִילַן סְרָק מֻתָּר לָקֹץ אוֹתוֹ וַאֲפִלּוּ אֵינוֹ צָרִיךְ לוֹ. וְכֵן אִילַן מַאֲכָל שֶׁהִזְקִין וְאֵינוֹ עוֹשֶׂה אֶלָּא דָּבָר מוּעָט שֶׁאֵינוֹ רָאוּי לִטְרֹחַ בּוֹ מֻתָּר לָקֹץ אוֹתוֹ. וְכַמָּה יְהֵא הַזַּיִת עוֹשֶׂה וְלֹא יְקֻצֶּנּוּ. רֹבַע הַקַּב זֵיתִים. וְדֶקֶל שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֶׂה קַב תְּמָרִים לֹא יְקֻצֶּנּוּ:
(י) וְלֹא הָאִילָנוֹת בִּלְבַד. אֶלָּא כָּל הַמְשַׁבֵּר כֵּלִים. וְקוֹרֵעַ בְּגָדִים. וְהוֹרֵס בִּנְיָן. וְסוֹתֵם מַעְיָן. וּמְאַבֵּד מַאֲכָלוֹת דֶּרֶךְ הַשְׁחָתָה. עוֹבֵר בְּלֹא תַשְׁחִית. וְאֵינוֹ לוֹקֶה אֶלָּא מַכַּת מַרְדּוּת מִדִּבְרֵיהֶם:
(8) ...The tree may be cut down if it is damaging other trees or it is damaging another’s field, or because the tree is more valuable for its wood than its fruit. The Torah only forbids [only] wanton destruction.
(9) It is permitted to cut down a non-fruit-bearing tree even if the tree itself is not needed. Similarly, an old fruit-bear tree which only produces a small yield and is not worth the effort to maintain can be cut down. ...
(10) And not only regarding trees, but even one who destructively breaks vessels or rips up clothing or tears down a building or seals up a spring or wastes food violates the Negative Commandment of “Do not destroy”.
Mishneh Torah was written by Maimonides, also known as Rambam, in Egypt, in the 13th century.
~ What are the limits of Bal Tashchit, according to him?
~ Do you think there's anything problematic with what he says?
Torah, and religion in general, must always work to be a counterweight to that kind of thinking. Never forget about the longest term vision of what you are doing. But what about the redwoods? Since they don’t provide anything for people to eat, wouldn’t the Torah itself simply let us tear them down, as [Maxxam corporation, on 1986] would have been happy to do? One way to look at it is that the redwoods and the other great forests of the world provide air, oxygen, stabilize the climate, store carbon, and the services they render us as living creatures are far greater than any harvest of fruit.
If we incorporate the spirit of the Torah, we can go far beyond utilitarian measurements. The Torah after all doesn’t just protect the trees when it says, “Is the tree of the field a person, to come before you in the siege?”
More than this, the deepest Torah guidance is that we must respect the sources of life. That spirit is expressed in so many ways – including not just in bal tashchit, but also burying the blood/soul of a wild animal one has slaughtered, never eating blood, which represents the life force, and never combining milk, the source of life, with meat. Life – all life – is the purpose of Creation. As Isaiah taught in God’s name: “The One who formed the Earth … – not to be waste/tohu did the One create her – the One formed her for dwelling upon.” (Isaiah 45:18)
If the halakhic judgment of bal tashchit is trumped by profit, nothing is really forbidden, as long as you can get people to pay. That is a formula for a dying world. But if the principle of respect for Life and the yardstick for sustainability outweigh profit, in Jewish law and corporate law, then we have a fighting chance to make it to the next century.
Rabbi David Seidenberg
Kabbalah and Ecology: God’s Image in the More-Than-Human World (Cambridge, 2015), pp.12-13
~ What are Rabbi Seidenberg's basic ideas regarding BAL TASHCHIT? What does he warn us against?
~ What does he want us to understand about Torah in general?
Sites for you to visit:
jewcology.org
kabbalahandecology.com
canfeinesharim.org
