Shoftim: Wasteful Destruction
Original Author: Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, updated by Ruthie Davis, and edited by Shoshi Ehrenreich
In this week’s parsha, Shoftim, we receive the commandment known as “Bal Tashchit,” meaning “thou shalt not destroy.” The passage reads:
When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an ax against them; for thou mayest eat of them but thou shalt not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man that it should be besieged of thee? Only the trees of which thou knowest that they are not trees for food, them thou mayest destroy and cut down that thou mayest build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee until it fall. [1]
As is so often the case, the halacha of Bal Tashchit is complicated. But this much is immediately apparent: the Torah forbids wanton destruction. Vandalism against nature entails the violation of a biblical prohibition.
At first blush, it would seem that the Biblical prohibition covers only acts of destruction performed during wartime. The halacha, however, considers the law to cover all situations, in peacetime as well as in war. [2] The specific mention in the Biblical passage of cutting down the trees by “wielding an axe” is understood by the halacha as non-exclusive. Any form of despoliation is forbidden by Biblical law.
It is evident that commercial values do play a central role in the law. The fruit tree may be destroyed if the value of the crop is less than its value as lumber or if the place of the tree is needed to build a house thereon, although not just for aesthetic considerations or convenience. Economic interest is not the sole underlying value; there are also considerations of health, such as in the case of illness and cases where no other means are available to obtain heat, when fruit trees may be cut down and used for firewood. However, even when the criterion is a commercial one, as it frequently is, it is clear that protection of private property and profit is not the motivator. Rather, it is the waste of an object of economic value. [3]
Bal Tashchit is a negative commandment for all of B’nei Yisrael as a collective, prohibiting an outright act of vandalism. It is not essentially a financial law dealing with property (mammon), but religious or ritual law (issur). As such, Bal Tashchit is based on a religio-moral principle that is far broader than a prudential commercial rule per se.
According to the commentary Sefer HaChinuch, the purpose of the commandment is to train man to love the good by abstaining from all destructiveness. “For this is the way of the pious…they who love peace are happy when they can do good to others and bring them close to Torah and will not cause even a grain of mustard to be lost from the world…” [4] This explanation of Bal Tashchit highlights the teaching of the ideal of social utility of the world, rather than of purely private economic interest: the pious will not suffer the loss of a single seed “in the world,” whereas the wicked rejoice “at the destruction of the world.” In his summary of the laws included in the rubric of Bal Tashchit, the author mentions that it certainly is proper to cut down a fruit tree if it causes damage to the fields of others. [5]
In that vein, the Rambam expands the prohibition far beyond just fruit trees: “And not only trees, but whoever breaks vessels, tears clothing, wrecks that which is built up, stops fountains, or wastes food in a destructive manner, transgresses the commandment of Bal Tashchit.”[6] Rambam recognizes in Bal Tashchit not just a limited prohibition in circumstances of war, but rather an expansive indictment of destructive waste of all types, in any setting.
A profound opportunity to apply this principle faces us daily in our homes, schools and workplaces. In 2018, Americans produced 292.4 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Much of this waste has potential life after the garbage can. [7] Paper comprises 23% of MSW, and compostable food waste and yard trimmings together amount to over 30%. Even as recycling and composting rates have increased, the actual amount of waste entering landfills has not significantly decreased, although between the years of 1990-2010 it looked like it might, and since then it has stabilized. Over time, recycling and composting rates have increased from just over 6 percent of MSW generated in 1960 to about 10 percent in 1980, to 16 percent in 1990, to about 29 percent in 2000, and to about 35 percent in 2017. It decreased to 32.1 percent in 2018. But the per capita rate of waste production increased from 3.66 pounds per person per day in 1980 to 4.74 pounds per person per day in 2000. It then decreased to 4.69 pounds per person per day in 2005, but in 2018 reached 4.9 pounds per person per day.
In houses, schools, offices, restaurants and stores across the country, waste is being dumped rather than set aside for more productive and environmentally conscious processing. The commandment of Bal Tashchit in this week’s Torah portion reminds us of the need for us to reflect upon our responsibilities, and reduce our own waste and its impact on the environment.
Suggested Action :
Always consider if something you are about to destroy or throw away could be used by someone else. Before putting something in the trash can, consider whether it is possible to reuse, repair, recycle, or compost some of what you are throwing away. Shop at second-hand stores in order to reuse what someone else no longer needs, and donate or resell things that you are done with.
Reprinted and adapted by Canfei Nesharim with permission from the chapter “Ecology in Jewish Law and Theology” in Faith and Doubt, © Norman Lamm, 2006, KTAV Publishing House: Jersey City, NJ. The original passage contains extensive bibliographic material and comments.
Original Canfei Nesharim Dedication:
David and Marsha Nimmer, in the prayer of bequeathing a healthy world to our children.
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Notes:
[1] Devarim 20:19-20.
[2] Indeed, while Maimonides forbids the destruction of fruit trees for use in warfare, other authorities such as Rashi and Nahmanides specifically exempt the use of fruit trees, for such purposes as bulwarks, from the prohibition; what the Torah proscribed is not the use of trees to win a battle, which may often be a matter of life and death, but the wanton devastation of embattled areas so as to render them useless to the enemy should he win, e.g., a “scorched earth” policy.
[3] The Talmud quotes Rabbi Joseph, who avers that Rabbi [Rabbi Judah the Prince], redactor of the Mishnah, intended a broader principle, which Rabbi Joseph phrases as: “One should not spill water out of his pool at a time when others need it,” i.e., one should never spoil an object or an opportunity, even where the gain or loss refers completely to another individual, and not to himself.
[4] Sefer Hahinnukh, Parshat Shoftim, on Bal Tashchit. Sefer Hahinnukh is a medieval work that lists the 613 Torah commandments (based on the Rambam’s system of counting ) and explains them from both a legal and moral perspective.
[5] A most cogent point is made, in this respect, by the late Rabbi Abraham Isaiah Karelitz, author of Hazon Ish. Maimonides, codifying the law of the Sifre, decides that Bal Tashchit includes the prohibition to divert an irrigation ditch that waters a fruit tree. What, however, if the tree were watered manually, by filling a pail with water and carrying it to the tree: is the passive failure to do so considered a breach of Bal Tashchit? Hazon Ish decides that it is not in violation of the law, because all sources indicate that the commandment of Bal Tashchit is directed not at the owner of the tree or object, but at all Israelites. Were the law addressed to individual proprietors, one could then demand of them that they continue to irrigate their trees in any manner necessary, and the failure to do so would constitute a transgression.
[6] Maimonides, Sefer Ha-mitzvot, Positive Commandment 6.
[7] See here for the EPA’s report on American waste production.
