Summary: In our portion this week Moses continues to review the laws given by God to the people as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. Moses shares laws regarding both sacred and secular legislation. The Israelites are told that in every dealing they should pursue justice in order to merit the land that God is giving them. The people are warned to avoid sorcery and witchcraft, the abhorrent practices of their idolatrous neighbors. God tells them that should an Israelite unintentionally kill another, he may take sanctuary in any of three designated cities of refuge. Laws to be followed during times of peace and times of war are also set forth.
Lesson: Sometimes in the Torah laws appear that seem completely random and we wonder why….why this law? Why does this law appear at this moment? In our portion this week, in the midst of a discussion of laws of warfare, Moses tells the people: “When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding the axe against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down.” Moses, as if to create sympathy for the trees, adds the question: “Are trees of the field like human beings, capable of withdrawing before you into the besieged city?” When the Jewish people is in the midst of a war against another city during which we can assume many lives will be lost, must we really be concerned for the sensitivity of the trees?
And lest we think that this sensitivity to trees applies only in the case of warfare, later rabbinic commentators extend the mitzvah to cover all forms of wasteful destruction under the principle of bal tashchit– do not destroy.
We often think that modern day concerns are exactly that – modern and relevant only to us. However our parashah this week teaches us that concern for the environment is an ancient Jewish priority. While in our portion we read about trees, in the book of Psalms the message is even deeper and all encompassing: “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein;”. This ancient Jewish teaching is stated quite eloquently by a Native American tribal chief who wrote: “Teach your children what we have taught our children – the earth is our mother Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth.”
The book of Psalms and the Native American chief are making a theological statement – the earth is a gift given to humanity by God. Ibn Ezra, a great medieval rabbinic commentator teaches the lesson in another way. He is quite pragmatic when he argues that trees provide fruit which we need in order to eat. By cutting down a tree we are actually injuring ourselves. Human beings should not destroy the environment because destruction of the environment results in self-destruction.
The centrality of our Jewish concern for the environment is evident in a Talmudic teaching by Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai. He taught that if you are in the midst of planting a tree and are told that the Messiah, the messenger bringing a new era of peace to the world, has arrived, you must not stop planting. “First,” say Rabi Yochanan, “finish planting the tree, then go out and greet the Messiah.”
Our portion teaches us, and our rabbis concur, that protecting the earth is a mitzvah. It is remarkable that Jewish tradition’s concern for the environment originates in an ancient time when fears about exploiting or endangering the planet were remote. We can be proud that our tradition saw, and continues to see, the earth as a gift to us from God and that humanity is responsible as partners with God in sustaining the delicate ecological balance of the earth. Thousands of years ago we were taught that we need a healthy earth so that we might live healthy lives. The duty of ensuring the future through replenishing the earth is more important than promises of peace, even if they are brought by the Messiah. We must work to preserve and protect the environment in order to promote our own survival.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Don Goor