Bal Tashchit

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Bal Tashchit ( Hebrew בל תשחית bal tashḥit “Do not destroy!”) is a principle of Jewish environmental ethics .

Tanakh

Under the Deuteronomy laws of war , it is forbidden to destroy the fruit trees in front of the city when an enemy city is besieged. Only the non-fruiting trees may be felled for military purposes ( Dtn 20.19–20  EU ). The wording in the Bible text is Hebrew לא־תשחית loʾ-tashḥit , from which in rabbinic literature with another negative particle became bal tashḥit ; but there is no factual difference.

A reason for this prohibition is given in v. 19, the Hebrew text of which can be interpreted in different ways. Many translations are based on Rashi , who understood this sentence as a rhetorical question: “ Is the tree in the field a person that he can flee from you into the city and suffer hunger and thirst, we the enemies who are besieged by you? " Obviously not. Then there is no need to attack the tree like a human enemy. The fruit tree should not become the target of senseless human aggression.

Abraham ibn Esra criticized Raschi's interpretation and suggested the following understanding of the text: Since the fruits are needed as food, the fruit tree stands for human life - “ because man is the tree of the field , that is, our survival as humans depends on the trees . “Whoever destroys fruit trees destroys vital resources. In this interpretation tradition, Samson Raphael Hirsch translated : "Because human existence is the tree of the field."

Rabbinical literature

"In the halachic continuation, this prohibition was extended to the effect that in principle no senseless destruction and waste of resources is allowed". In rabbinical literature there is a minimalist and a maximalist interpretation. Bal Tashchit interprets the minimalist interpretation in a utilitarian way as a prohibition against wasting anything that is useful to humans, be it natural resources, man-made objects or one's own health. For example, self-damaging eating habits can be banned with reference to the halachic principle of Bal Tashchit . The maximalist interpretation recognizes the need for protection of nature and tries to balance it with economic interests of the people.

Modern ethical designs

Samson Raphael Hirsch, who among the Jewish Orthodox authors had a very comprehensive conception of Bal Tashchit , treated the subject in his main work Chorev (1889) under the title: “Respect for beings as God's property”. Arthur Waskow should be mentioned among the authors of the 20th century , who explains to Bal Tashchit : “Man is responsible for the destruction ... of everything that could potentially be of use to mankind. Even part of the divine plan of creation, man is obliged to treat his animate and inanimate counterparts in the world with respect. "

literature

  • Samson Raphael Hirsch: חורב: Attempts on Jissroé̤l's duties in distraction, initially for Jissroé̤l's thinking youths and virgins . Kauffmann, Frankfurt am Main 1889, § 396-401.
  • Eilon Schwartz: Bal Tashchit: A Jewish Environmental Precept . In: Martin D. Yaffe (Ed.): Judaism And Environmental Ethics: A Reader , Lexington Books, Lanham et al. 2001, pp. 230–249.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eilon Schwartz: Bal Tashchit: A Jewish Environmental Precept , Lanham et al. 2001, p. 232.
  2. ↑ Quoted here from: Eilon Schwartz: Bal Tashchit: A Jewish Environmental Precept , Lanham et al. 2001, p. 233.
  3. ↑ Samson Raphael Hirsch: The Pentateuch , Volume 5, Frankfurt am Main 1899, p. 295.
  4. ^ Hanna Liss : Tanach. Textbook of the Jewish Bible (= writings of the College for Jewish Studies. Volume 8). Universitätsverlag C. Winter, Heidelberg 2005, 3rd edition 2011, p. 182.
  5. ↑ Eilon Schwartz: Bal Tashchit: A Jewish Environmental Precept , Lanham et al. 2001, p. 244.
  6. ^ Arthur O. Waskow: Torah of the Earth: Exploring 4,000 Years of Ecology in Jewish Thought . Volume 1: Biblical Israel & Rabbinic Judaism, Jewish Lights Publishing , Woodstock VT 2000, p. 134.