{"id":51208,"date":"2019-03-11T15:04:09","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T13:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=51208"},"modified":"2022-10-02T14:35:42","modified_gmt":"2022-10-02T11:35:42","slug":"biblical-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/biblical-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"Biblical Sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On the face of it, the prohibition against destroying fruit-bearing trees, known as the rule of bal tashchit<\/em>, \u201cDo not destroy,\u201d is highly limited in scope. It does no more than forbid a \u201cscorched earth\u201d policy in the conduct of war. It seems to have no peacetime application. However, the sages understood it to include any act of needless destruction. Maimonides states: \u201cNot only does this apply to trees, but also whoever breaks vessels or tears garments, destroys a building, blocks a wellspring of water or destructively wastes food transgresses the command of bal tashchit<\/em>.\u201d This is the halakhic basis of an ethic of environmental responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Torah is concerned with what we would call \u2018sustainability.\u2019 This is particularly true of the three commands ordaining periodic rest: the Sabbath, the sabbatical year and the jubilee year. Another group of commands is directed against over-interference with nature. The Torah forbids crossbreeding livestock, planting a field with mixed seeds, and wearing a garment of mixed wool and linen. These rules are called <\/span>chukkim <\/span><\/em>or \u2018statutes\u2019. Nachmanides understood this term to mean laws that respect the integrity of nature. <\/span><\/p>\n

Deuteronomy also contains a law forbidding taking a young bird together with its mother. Nachmanides sees this as having the same underlying concern, namely of protecting species. Though the Bible permits us to use some animals for food, we must not cull them to extinction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Samson Raphael Hirsch in the nineteenth century gave the most forcible interpretation of biblical law. The statutes relating to environmental protection, he said, represent the principle that \u2018the same regard which you show to man you must also demonstrate to every lower creature, to the earth which bears and sustains all, and to the world of plants and animals.\u2019 They are a kind of social justice applied to the natural world: \u2018They ask you to regard all living things as God\u2019s property. Destroy none; abuse none; waste nothing; employ all things wisely \u2026 Look upon all creatures as servants in the household of creation.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

In this context, a phrase in Genesis 2 is decisive. Man was set in the Garden of Eden \u2018to work it and take care of it\u2019 (Gen. 2:15). The two Hebrew verbs are significant. The first \u2013 <\/span>l<\/span><\/i>e\u2019ovdah<\/em> <\/span>\u2013 literally means \u2018to serve it\u2019. Man is not just a master but also a servant of nature. The second \u2013 <\/span>leshomrah<\/em> <\/span>\u2013 means \u2018to guard it\u2019. This is the verb used in later Torah legislation to describe the responsibilities of a guardian of property that does not belong to him. He must exercise vigilance in its protection and is liable for loss through negligence. This is perhaps the best short definition of man\u2019s responsibility for nature as the Bible conceives it.<\/span><\/p>\n

From:\u00a0<\/span>Environmental Responsibility (Covenant & Conversation, Shoftim 5775)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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