Parshat Emor: Our Relationship With Other Creatures
Original author - Ora Sheinson, edited by the GrowTorah Summer Inchworms 2021
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Rabbi Yehudah said in the name of Rav: Everything that the Holy One, Blessed be He, created in His world, He did not create a single thing in vain.[1]
In Bereshit, Hashem looked at all that He created and “saw that it was very good.”[2] Since then, the vast diversity of life on the planet has not gone unnoticed by the Jewish sages. They were moved to derive a deep lesson from the species of earth, specifically because the Torah conveys Hashem’s intention for, as well as His satisfaction from, the existence of every life form. The Midrash on Shemot Rabbah 10:1 (2nd Century) notes in the name of Rabbi Acha bar Rabbi Chanina: “Everything you see as superfluous in this world—like snakes and scorpions—they are part of the greater scheme of the creation of the world.” Though most of us are used to a halachic dialog that calls certain animals “not kosher” or “impure,” here the Torah outlook is actually one of respect for all creatures. This outlook has important ramifications for biodiversity issues today.
The biodiversity of planet Earth is severely endangered. Edward O. Wilson, a Harvard University zoologist, estimates that “If we continue at the current rate of deforestation and destruction of major ecosystems like rainforests and coral reefs, where most of the biodiversity is concentrated, we will surely lose more than half of all the species of plants and animals on earth by the end of the 21st century.”[3]
Humans benefit from biodiversity in immeasurable ways. For example, many of our most potent medicines come from the plants and animals that Hashem put on this earth. Aspirin from the willow tree; digitalin from the foxglove plant; vincristine, taken from the rosy periwinkle of Madagascar and used to treat childhood leukemia;[4] painkillers from cone snails, snake venom, and frog skin poison. What if the willow tree had gone extinct? What if the rosy periwinkle had disappeared? In addition, the wide variety of plant and animal life allows humans globally to nourish and sustain themselves in several different climates. No less important, the splendid sight of differing flora and fauna enhances the human experience by expanding the mind and delighting the senses. Billions of dollars are spent each year on tourism to enjoy breathtaking views and “exotic” wildlife such as safaris, coral reefs, and rain forests.[5]
Hashem saw the good in all that He created. He gave a series of commandments to the Jewish people intended to ensure that man was a proper steward of that which Hashem had created. In this week’s parsha, Parshat Emor, Hashem gives the Jewish people a mitzvah that is instructive to all of us enduring today’s challenge. The Torah prohibits the slaughter of a mother and her calf on the same day – a prohibition often referred to as “oto v’et beno”[6]. The Ramban, in his commentary on this prohibition, indicates that its reason is to prevent us from eliminating a species. He offers the same comment on the Biblical commandment to send away the mother bird before taking her eggs, known as “shilu’ach haken.” [7] The Ramban says that even though Hashem has clearly given us the right to benefit from an individual member of a species, he has prohibited us from the destruction of an entire species. Both of these prohibitions revolve around the killing of two generations at once, an act that is symbolic of the destruction of the ability of a species to persist.
Other Torah commandments also imply limits to humankind’s effect on the natural world. For example, Hashem prohibits us from breeding two species of animals together, and from grafting plant species together. “You will keep my laws; you will not breed your animals as kilayim, you shall not seed your fields as kilayim.”[8] Here too is the message that though we are expected to cultivate Hashem’s creations for our benefit and sustenance, we are not to permanently affect those species’ essential identities.
To underscore the importance of all things that Hashem created, the Midrash tells the story of David Hamelech, who, as a young boy, once asked for what purpose Hashem created spiders on this earth. Hashem answered that there would come a day when David would need a spider and then he would thank Hashem for creating it. Many years later, when David incurred the wrath of Sha’ul, and was on the run from his soldiers, David escaped into a cave to hide. He heard the soldiers near the cave and knew they would find him. Suddenly a big spider appeared in front of the cave and spun a web across the opening. When the soldiers came they did not look in David’s cave, because they assumed that he would have torn the web when he entered. David’s life was saved by a spider, and on that day, he understood that Hashem was wise, and thanked Hashem for creating all creatures.[9]
David’s realization, no doubt, was that if the actions of one spider in a few seconds can determine the life and death of one person, then hundreds of spider species worldwide must surely have a tremendous impact on everything. Today scientists have begun to discuss biodiversity in terms of “webs.”[10] What used to be called the “food chain” is now called the “food web” because of the amount of cross-links between species. As we begin to understand how much more complicated and involved relationships on this earth are, cause and effect are no longer unidirectional or even bi-directional, but a multi-faceted web of relationships.
The more we learn about biodiversity, the more we begin to see its overall importance in strengthening every kind of ecosystem against disturbances. Diversity brings stability to an ecosystem because the more species diversity that exists, the more possible adaptations there will be, and therefore, there will be a higher chance that more variations will persist as time goes on.[11] David began to understand this lesson when he saw the spider weaving a protective web across the cave, sheltering him from damaging intrusions. So too, in every ecosystem, each species is responsible for its own part of the “web” that can support boundaries in the system against intrusions.
We have a far greater understanding of the importance of every living thing in the modern era. This knowledge bears a responsibility on each of us, on both a personal and religious level, to take actions that reduce our impact on our ecosystems. The two Torah commandments that directly apply to species diversity might be rare to come by. After all, how often do we see a bird hovering over eggs in its nest and how often are we in charge of which cows get ritually slaughtered? While most of us do not have the opportunity to perform many of the mitzvot related to species preservation, we cannot fool ourselves into thinking that species-diversity preservation is far beyond our reach. We can each take actions in our everyday lives to protect the earth’s biodiversity and adhere to Hashem’s general commandment to honor the importance of all that He has created.
Suggested Action Items:
Reduce your use of pesticides and fertilizers in lawn care. These often runoff from lawns into adjacent lakes and streams with adverse effects on the plants and animals living there. Look online for environmental lawn care advice.
Use environmentally friendly products for cleaning. This reduces chemical contamination of habitats both during manufacturing and use.
Purchase sustainably harvested seafood. Many kinds of seafood, though delicious, are not harvested sustainably—either for the individual species itself or for those species that are unlucky enough to be ensnared as “by-catch”. Some trawlers destroy extensive seafloor habitats in the process of catching fish.[12]
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Notes:
[1] (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 77b)
[2] Bereisheit 1:31
[3] Read more here.
[4] YPTE website
[5] People and Planet website
[6] Vayikra 22:28
[7] Devarim 22:6, commentary of Ramban.
[8] Vayikra 19:19
[9] From the sayings of Ben Sira 23B, Otzar Midrashim 47
[10] For example, see “Animal Diversity Web” of University of Michigan:
[11] For example: “Biodiversity and ecosystem stability in a decade-long grassland experiment.” David Tilman, Peter B. Reich and Johannes M. H. Knops, Nature 441, 629-632 (1 June 2006)
[12] Taken from Ten Things YOU Can Do to Help Preserve Species Biodiversity, By David Hooper, an Associate Professor of Biology at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, specializing in the study of the effects of plant diversity on ecosystem processes and ecological services.
