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Secondary Sources: Relationship to Nature

Deuteronomy 20:18-19

D’Var Torah

Harriet M. Levine, Woodlands Community Temple, White Plains, NY
http://www.reformjudaism.org/learning/torah-study/shoftim/protect-trees-protect-our-world

While the verses themselves deal specifically with cutting down trees during war, the Sages extended their meaning to cover all forms of wasteful destruction. They taught that anyone who deliberately wastes our resources, either natural or man-made, violates the law.

For over 3,000 years Jews have been concerned about the environment. Although these instructions are specifically directed to the care of fruit trees during war, the lesson gleaned from them has far-reaching implications for life on this planet. Our ancestors understood that life depends upon preserving the land. Although they didn’t use words like “ecology,” “global warming,” or “environmental crisis,” they clearly understood and respected these concepts.

• How, in this age of technology, can we ensure that we don’t do more damage to our natural resources-our drinking water, our rivers, the soil, or the air?
• How do you care for your environment within the school/institutions you are part of? Could you reduce wastage of resources further? If so, how?

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Secondary Source: Caring for Animals

What does the way we care for animals say about us?

Proverbs 12:10  מִשְׁלֵי

יוֹדֵעַ צַדִּיק נֶפֶשׁ בְּהֶמְתּוֹ

A righteous man knows the soul of his animal

You should not sit down to eat until you have first fed your animals
(Talmud, Berachot. 40a; Gittin, 62a)

You should not buy an animal unless you can guarantee it will have an adequate food supply
(Jerusalem Talmud, Ketubot, 4:8).

Moses and David are often described in our tradition as devoted shepherds who gave every animal in their flock personal attention. It was this trait of their personalities that made them worthy in God’s eyes of leading the Jewish people.
( Exodus Rabbah 2.2)

Once, while Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, one young sheep ran away. Moses ran after it until the sheep reached a shady place, where he found a pool of water and began to drink. When Moses reached the sheep, he said: ‘I did not know you ran away because you were thirsty. Now, you must be exhausted [from running].’ Moses put the sheep on his shoulders and carried him [back to the herd]. God said, “Because you tend the sheep belonging to human beings with such mercy, you shall be the shepherd of My sheep, Israel.”
( Exodus Rabbah 2:2)