Shlicha Corner
Environmental Concerns in the Hebrew Scriptures
By Revital Yona
An urgent issue that demands our attention but doesn't get enough of it is the deterioration of the natural environment around us caused by maltreatment of it on our side. People in our modern day society live for the moment, unaware, or prefer not to think of, the dire consequences of our actions (or lack thereof). Driving cars that run on gas, carelessly using non-decomposable plastic products, not recycling recyclable materials, etc., are among the things most of us do on an everyday basis without caring for the damage we cause.
The role of religion has mostly been played down as a source of influence on this issue, but bearing in mind that the western culture and world view have been shaped to a great extent by the Judeo-Christian scriptures, it is worth while to have a second look at those sources and try to see what they attempt to teach us about the issue of keeping the world intact.
Man's role in the universe:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
These are the opening words of the eternal bestseller, the Hebrew Bible, and also the most defining ones in terms of Judaism's view of Nature and Creation. According to the Hebrew Bible, God created the world and everything in it, therefore the world and everything in it belong to Him (The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Psalms 24:1); God created the world with his endless wisdom, therefore the world is made to be perfect and God's wisdom is manifest in every aspect of His creation (How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your possessions. Psalms 104:24);
A point of contention as to the role humans should play in the universe revolves around Genesis 1:28, "Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth". Some have taken this verse as an indication for the destructive role that the Judeo-Christian traditions have played in shaping people's abusive attitudes and behaviors towards the environment. They see this verse as giving full authority to man to use and abuse the world as he pleases.
However, this interpretation of the verse might be too simplistic. Just one chapter later, in Genesis 2:15, the scriptures tell us a different tale: Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. How then can the two verses be reconciled? A possible explanation for man's designated role in the universe is that of dominion and stewardship – man has dominion over the land, but he has to exercise his special power over the environment with care, in order to keep it.
Kohelet Rabah 7:13 reflects this role of stewardship that man has in the world. It tells us the following midrash (rabbinical commentary): In the time that the Holy One created the first human, he took him to all the trees of Garden of Eden and said to him, 'See my works, how lovely and praiseworthy they are, and all that I created, for your sake I created it. Put your mind [to this], that you don't ruin or destroy my world, for if you ruin, there is no one who will repair after you."
Only humans were created in the image of God, meaning they were endowed with the power, consciousness and free will that other creatures lack. They can use these special qualities to benefit the world or to ruin it; We know that God approved of His creation in the sixth day, after He created man, which tells us that man is a viable part of God's perfect Creation and not a mistake or an aberration of it (God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Genesis 1:31). To further prove that man should tend and keep the land rather than use it destructively, the scriptures are abundant with verses that stress man's position in the world as secondary to that of God. One example would be God's words to men in Leviticus 25:23 "...the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me".
The scriptures also give us explicit directions as to the way we should behave towards Creation.
How can we be good stewards?
Leviticus 19:19 warns us to keep creation as it is without trying to alter it: "…You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you". This commandment may have to do with certain techniques of genetic engineering and their possibly destructive consequences to the health and well being of humans and other creatures in this world.
Deuteronomy 20:19 warns us against wanton destruction. "When you besiege a city a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you?" If we are commanded to care for trees in times of war, when moral standards plummet and human life is at stake, all the more so in times of peace we are commanded to care for the environment around us.
Expanding on the meaning of this verse, Maimonides (1135-1204) tells us that "The Law forbids only wanton destruction... Not only one who cuts down trees, but also one who smashes household goods, tears clothes, demolishes a building, stops up a spring, or destroys articles of food with destructive intent transgresses the command 'you must not destroy'" (MishnehTorah, Laws of Kings and Wars 6:8,10).
Exodus 23:10-11 relates to us a very important mitzvah – that of the abstaining from tilling the land on the Sabbatical year, "Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce; but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove". The reasons behind this mitzvah may be social in nature, concerned with a balanced distribution of resources in society, but they may be ecological too – rest for the land improves its quality and betters its produce. Also, keeping the sabbatical year (and the Jubilee year) reminds men that the land is God's, not theirs.
The same can be said about Shabbat, the Sabbath day – for one day out of seven every week we are commanded not to do any work in the world, not to alter it in any way. We're encouraged to rest and enjoy creation and contemplate our place in the world and our relationship with God. Among orthodox communities in Israel there would be no cars running this day, no television or radio played and a much more quiet, family and community oriented past time.
Also, at least in Israel, Yom Kippur is observed in such a fashion that makes it a Green Day of sorts. No one drives a car on this day (not even the secular people!) out of respect for this day and for the people who do observe it. Most households will refrain from using electricity or gas and thus the country gets a chance to have fresher and cleaner air, at least for this one day a year.
The Talmud too is concerned with environmental issues, and it encourages planting of trees, limiting the proximity to the city of air polluting processes, and taking into consideration the wellbeing of one's neighbor, a commandment that is elaborated to include many aspects of behavior, many of them have environmental consequences.
The emphasis in Israel on tree planting on Tu B'shvat is also a manifestation of the stewardship role we should play on creation.
In addition to this, the scriptures are abundant with verses that encourage merciful treatment of animals. Deuteronomy 22:6-7 ("If a bird's nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; You shall surely let the mother go, and take the young for yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days") teaches us to be considerate towards the feelings of the mother bird, but also encourages us to preserve the species by not killing both mother and her young ones.
Deuteronomy 22:10 ("You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together") teaches us to be considerate towards animals. When two animals of different size and strength are yoked together, the weaker one is bound to suffer and we're commanded to avoid such a situation.
Exodus 23:5 ("If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, beware from leaving it to him. You shall surely help him with it") tells us that we're obliged to help animals, even if they belong to our enemies.
Actually, the Sabbath day commandment is also meant for animals to get rest for one day a week, ("But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates". Exodus 20:10).
Many other verses are concerned with animal welfare, examples are:
"Whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not kill both it and its young in one day" (Leviticus 22:28); "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain" (Deutronomy 25:4); "Do not cook a kid in its mother's milk" (Exodus 23:19); and many more.
Of course, the Kosher slaughter rules are intended to minimize suffering by the animal. The knife has to be very sharp and with no blemishes, and the shochet has to cut the esophagus, the trachea and major blood vessels leading to the brain at the same time to quicken death.
There are numerous other commandments and verses that refer to these issues in the scriptures and in rabbinical writings, which bestow on us the responsibility to care for the world, for the plants and the animals in it, and for other humans sharing this world with us in our times and in future generations. Let us listen to the lessons our heritage teaches us and be better stewards of this world by considering these edicts in every choice that we make!