Question

What is written in our scriptures about the management of our environment - the earth, water, nature and food?

Answer

Thousands of years ago, before ecology became a worldwide human concern, Judaism dealt in a detailed and sophisticated manner with environmental issues.

In Genesis (1:28), God commands man to "fill the world and capture it." The Torah permits us to use the world as we see fit.

However, a few verses later (Genesis 2:15), the Torah tempers this by telling us that God put humans in the Garden (symbolic of the entire world) "to work it and to guard it." Since guarding something means preserving it, God wants us to both use the world for our needs, while being careful to preserve the world and not destroy it.

An example of this delicate balance comes from Deut. 20:19-20. When an army surrounds a city and prepares to use a tree as a battering ram, the Torah says that a fruit-bearing tree may not be used for this purpose, only a tree that does not bear fruit. What's the difference?

If one uses the fruit-bearing tree, then the fruit will be needlessly destroyed, since the same objective could be accomplished just as well with a tree that does not bear fruit.

On the other hand, a person may cut down a fruit tree when it causes damage to other trees, or from other necessary purpose (Maimonides - Laws of Kings 6:8). This, then, highlights the Torah perspective on the environment. While we may use the world for our needs, we may never irresponsibly damage or destroy the environment. (Needless destruction is called Bal Taschit.)

Regarding city planning and beautification, a healthy ecological balance dictates that there must remain distance between city and rural areas. Thus, the Torah (Numbers 35:2) does not permit any planting or building within a 1000-cubit radius around a city.

Rashi on this verse, based on the Talmud (Baba Batra 24b), comments that the purpose is also to protect the beauty of the city. Thus, the Torah was concerned about zoning and city beautification.

For more study, read "The Jewish Encyclopedia of Moral and Ethical Issues," by Rabbi Nachum Amsel (published by Jason Aronson Inc.), from which this answer was excerpted.