Bal tashchit

Bal tashchit (Hebrew: בל תשחית) ("do not destroy") is a basic ethical principle in Jewish law.

The principle is rooted in the Biblical law of Deuteronomy 20:19–20. In the Bible, the command is said in the context of wartime and forbids the cutting down of fruit trees in order to assist in a siege.

"... for thou mayest eat of them [fruit trees], and thou shalt not cut them [the fruit trees] down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ [continue (8548 Strong's)] them in the siege: Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that make the war with thee, until it be subdued" Deuteronomy 20:19-20.

God is saying that any trees from which food may be obtained in order to give strength in the battle are not to be cut down, BUT every other type of tree that are strong enough to be used in battle against the enemy THOU SHALT cut down. God is specifying when and what type of trees are and are not to be cut down. He is not promoting the idea that no trees should be cut down. Be careful to read the verses in context so the complete idea is known, be it in the Bible or any area of life. (12/30/16).

In early rabbinic law however, the bal tashchit principle is understood to include other forms of senseless damage or waste. For instance, the Babylonian Talmud applies the principle to prevent the wasting of lamp oil, the tearing of clothing, the chopping up of furniture for firewood, or the killing of animals. In all cases, bal tashchit is invoked only for destruction that is deemed unnecessary. Destruction is explicitly condoned when the cause or need is adequate.

In contemporary Jewish ethics on Judaism and ecology, advocates often point to bal tashchit as an environmental principle.

Sources

• Eilon Schwartz. "Bal Tashchit: A Jewish Environmental Precept," in Judaism And Environmental Ethics: A Reader Martin D. Yaffe ed., 2001
• Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life. Bal Tashchit: the development of a Jewish environmental principle
• Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Wars 6:8,10
• Candace Nachman. "Bal Tashchit: Optimism in a Time of Teshuva" on the Canfei Nesharim website, an Orthodox Jewish environmental organization
• Nir, David. "A Critical Examination of the Jewish Environmental Law of Bal Tashchit 'Do Not Destroy'" Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, Winter, 2006
• Sefer ha-Chinuch, commandment 529
• David E. S. Stein, "Halakhah: The Law of Bal Tashchit (Do Not Destroy)," in Torah of the Earth.
• Wolff, K.A., "Bal Tashchit: The Jewish Prohibition against Needless Destruction" at http://hdl.handle.net/1887/14448

See also

• 613 Mitzvot
• Mottainai