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).

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DEUT1011 The push for local, organic, and other alternatives to industrial agriculture is grounded in the need for healthy food and environmental stewardship, goals that reflect Jewish values as important as the impulse to feed everyone for as little cost as possible. From Leviticus to Maimonides, we are commanded to keep our bodies healthy, so that we might better serve God (or pursue tikkun olam). The commandment bal talchit, which enjoins, “Do not destroy things from which humanity may benefit,” reminds us to be good caretakers of our limited natural resources (Deuteronomy 20:19-20). The environmental and health effects of industrial agricultural--the contaminating sewage pools common at Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs, or factory farms), the air pollution and energy consumption that results from moving the average food item fifteen hundred miles from farm to fork, and the exploding levels of childhood obesity--make it increasingly clear that our Jewish tradition demands a change. The philosophy behind the Fresh Food Financing Initiative argues for a different set of food justice values than our traditional food policy: it's not just the quantity of food that matters, but quality, location, impact, and access. This vision of food justice means that all people should be able to obtain healthy food in their communities, not just buy massive quantities of cheap corn-based processed food products. It requires a turn away from subsidized corn and soy to a focus on producing fresh food and vegetables and consuming food grown within a few dozen miles of our homes instead of thousands of miles away. After all, the Talmud teaches that “it is forbidden to live in a city that does not have a green garden” (Kiddushin 4:12). (By Michael Namath and Rachel Cohen, “RAISING OUR VOICES FOR FOOD JUSTICE”)

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DEUT1013 R. Yochanan said: "For a man is a tree of the field" -- Now is a man a tree of the field! But [understand it thus:] it is written; "for from it shall you eat, but it shall you not cut down"; and (verse 20): "it shall you destroy and cut down." How is this to be resolved? [Midrashically,]: If he [i.e., one who would be your teacher] is a genuine Torah scholar, "from him shall you eat, and him shall you not cut down"; if not, "him shall you destroy and cut down" (Ta'anith 7a)

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DEUT1015 It is a negative commandment not to destroy any fruit–bearing tree in setting siege for Scripture says, When you besiege a city… you shall not destroy its trees [this verse]. This means not at a siege alone but rather wherever a person cuts down a fruit tree destructively, he should receive whiplashes. And if anyone breaks a useful object, tears a garment, demolishes a structure, or ruins food destructively -- he should be beaten with whiplashes of disobedience, by the law of the Sages. However, a non-fruit-bearing tree may be cut down even if there is no need for it; and so to a fruit tree that has aged and produces no fruit except for some small quantity, so that is not it is not worth troubling with it -- which would be less than a quarter of a kav of olives, or a kav of dates. So too, it is permissible to cut down a fruit tree if it has been harming other trees, or because it causes damage to other fields, or because its price [as wood] is high: for the Torah forbad it only as an act of destruction.

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DEUT1016 See [[DEUT989]] Deuteronomy 20:10 peace DORFF-RUTTENBERGWAR 102-3

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DEUT1019 What seems in the Torah a specialized and therefore rather minor edict about behavior toward the earth becomes a much broader one in rabbinic Judaism. The Torah says, [this and following verse]. The rabbis of the Talmud concluded that if we must not destroy enemy fruit trees even in wartime, then all the more must we take care not to waste them, or any life-forms, or even human-made objects, in time of peace: Bal tashkit! ("Do not destroy!") At the same time, having broadened the command so much, they also made clear that it was wasteful use, not all use, that they were prohibiting, that indeed God sees it as a sin not to take advantage of the joys God provided in the world God created. (B. Bava Kamma 91b. For the prohibition itself, see also B. Shabbat 67b, 129a, 140b; B. Kiddushin 32a; and B. Hullin 7b). (By Arthur Waskow, "Jewish Environmental Ethics: Intertwining Adam with Adamah")

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DEUT1017 See [[GEN275]] Genesis 2:15 tend SACTAB 190-2

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DEUT1018 See [[LEV354]] Leviticus 19:13 defraud SACTAB 71-2

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DEUT1020 Would you like assurance of the personal concern of Providence, that it will never consider you utterly worthless and insignificant? Become a holy part of a holy undertaking. Join your religious community. Become a vital part and partner of a project for the support and study of Torah. Make yourself an indispensable, irreplaceable "cog" in the system of the Almighty. In Scripture we read: "When you besiege a city a long time, in waging war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees… for you may eat of them; hence you shall not cut them down; for man is [as] the tree of the field" [this verse]. The prohibition applies only to fruit-bearing trees--"for you may eat of them"; they are not to be destroyed, says Scripture, even to help win a war--because they are like people. The metaphor bears us out, once we turn it around: Man is not to be destroyed, because he is a fruit-bearing tree. A human being is to be especially safeguarded from harm and destruction, Scripture indicates, when and if he "bears fruit" and contributes productively to a worthwhile community. The Torah signifies its protection for those who will nourish others, especially spiritually. Then see to it that the world of Torah and good deeds benefits from you.

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DEUT1014 Great stress is laid in Jewish economic behavior on countering “dog in the manger” attitudes [i.e., preventing others from benefiting from one’s things of which one has no need--AJL]. This idea is closely allied to the notion of bal taschit, according to which a man is not permitted to vandalize or destroy even his own property, let alone that of another, since other people might be able to benefit from it. Even though the owner has an explicit indefensible right in his property, the concept in Judaism of man being a mere guardian of his economic assets makes such destruction immoral. The sages saw such waste as an act of rebellion, a rejection of God’s role as the creator and hence, “He who tears his clothing, breaks his utensils, or scatters his money and anger should be in your eyes as if he had served idols.” Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 105b The biblical paradigm of bal taschit is to be found in the laws against destroying trees bearing edible fruit in time of war (Deuteronomy 20:19). It is interesting to note that the discussion centers around trees that are owned by the enemy; all the dictates of war would seem to overrule such moral considerations. Nevertheless, we are logically required to refrain from needlessly destroying fruit-bearing trees, since one is destroying the products and creation of the Lord, who is responsible for giving man his sustenance. The rabbis extended this injunction to include all useful items; In our day, the inefficient use of fuel would be considered a transgression of bal taschit. bal taschit, it should be noted, is also relevant in the case of ownerless property, as may be seen from the story of Hezkeyahu, who, in anticipation of the siege of Jerusalem, closed up the spring of the Gichon, much to the displeasure of the rabbis. Talmud Bavli, Pesachin 56a

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