DEUT1005 “When the Holy Blessed One created the first human, God took Adam and led him around all the trees of the Garden of Eden. And God said to Adam, ‘See My works, how good and praiseworthy they are! And all I have created, I made for you. [But,] be mindful then that you do not spoil and destroy My world. For if you spoil it, there is no one after you to repair it.’” (Kohelet Rabbah 7:13). The message embedded in this midrash acknowledges and praises God as the creator of the earth and then charges the human race with the task of using our planet's precious resources wisely. [Modern Jewish environmental teachings use the term shomrei adamah, “guardians of the earth,” to emphasize our responsibility as the earth's caretakers. This phrase comes from the Hebrew in Genesis 2:15 in which God commands human beings to “work [l’ovdah]” the earth and “keep [ul’shomrah]” the earth.] The last line in this text is a forewarning: we must be responsible caretakers of the planet's resources, to use only what is necessary, and to be conscious of the negative impact that human beings can have on the ecosystems of the earth if we are not careful. God reminds Adam, the first human, that there is only one world to provide for the needs of human beings, plants, and animals. Then, God leaves the fate of the world in our hands. Throughout history, human beings have depended on balance in the natural world: everything necessary for survival comes from the earth. Food, raw materials for clothing and shelter, and energy sources are all grown on and extracted from the land. Our ancestors knew that they had to treat the earth with care, lest they go without these necessities of life, putting into question their own fate. For the past few hundred years, though, this wisdom in this midrash has been overshadowed by the human tendency to accumulate more than what is necessary for survival. Beginning with the Industrial Revolution, our society has been able to produce and distribute more food and goods at a lower cost than ever before. We have been trained to eat things and buy things without thinking about the resources needed to produce and ship them all over the world, without thought of the human labor required to grow and harvest food and assemble products. It is time to return to the wisdom of our ancient texts and traditions; time to examine our patterns of consumption and disposal of food, energy, and material goods; time to cultivate a different ethic. This paradigm shift will allow us to recognize our species’ unnecessary wanton destruction of the planet’s finite resources and ultimately give us opportunities to live truly in partnership with God. It will also give us guidance for ways that we can allow the earth to heal and, as a result, create a healthier society, since what is good for the earth is ultimately good for humanity. Guiding these ethics are the prohibitions of bal tashchit, the biblical and Rabbinic laws forbidding unnecessary waste and reckless destruction of resources that are beneficial to human beings. The laws of bal tashchit originate in Deuteronomy 20:19-20 ... This chapter will illustrate how they are expanded in talmudic literature to prevent wasting all other food resources, energy sources, and material goods. In the Middle Ages, the author of Sefer HaChunuch refined the guidelines of bal tashchit to forbid wasting any edible food sources, down to even the tiniest of morsels of food. Rambam made the equitable distribution of resources a social justice issue under the category of the laws of bal tashchit in the Mishneh Torah. [Hilchot Eivel 13:24]. Finally, we must continue to cultivate a bal tashchit ethic for today, standing firmly on the shoulders of our ancestors, and fulfilling our responsibility to guard and protect our world, especially when it comes to choosing the types of food we eat and understanding the impact those choices make on our own health and the health of our planet. In the following pages, we will explore a sampling of texts that define the development of these laws. (By Kevin M. Kleinman, “CURB YOUR CONSUMERISM: Developing a Bal Tashchit Food Ethic for Today”) (Continued at [[DEUT1022]] Deuteronomy 20:20 fruit SACTAB 165-6).