(1) When God began to create heaven and earth— (2) the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water— (3) God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (4) God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. (5) God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day. (6) God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water, that it may separate water from water.” (7) God made the expanse, and it separated the water which was below the expanse from the water which was above the expanse. And it was so. (8) God called the expanse Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
(15) The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it.
When the blessed holy One created the first human, God took Adam and led Adam around all the trees of the Garden of Eden. And God said to Adam: "See My works, how good and praiseworthy they are?! And all I have created, I made for you. But, be mindful then that you do not spoil or destroy My world - for if you spoil it, there is no one after you to repair it."
(11) but the land you are about to cross into and possess, a land of hills and valleys, soaks up its water from the rains of heaven. (12) It is a land which the LORD your God looks after, on which the LORD your God always keeps His eye, from year’s beginning to year’s end. (13) If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving the LORD your God and serving Him with all your heart and soul, (14) I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late. You shall gather in your new grain and wine and oil— (15) I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle—and thus you shall eat your fill. (16) Take care not to be lured away to serve other gods and bow to them. (17) For the LORD’s anger will flare up against you, and He will shut up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce; and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is assigning to you.
(19) When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding the ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down. [Ki For] are trees of the field human to withdraw before you into the besieged city? (20) Only trees that you know do not yield food may be destroyed; you may cut them down for constructing siegeworks against the city that is waging war on you, until it has been reduced.
For, is the tree in the field a man? - Here ki is understood as "perhaps," "should," or "for." 'Perhaps the tree is the field is to be considered a human being, able to run away from you into the besieged town, to suffer there the agonies of thirst and hunger, like the townspeople - if not, why then destroy it?
Elion Schwartz on Rashi - Executive Director of the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership
"Rashi's interpretation of the verse if based on his understanding of the Hebrew word ki as being interrogative, turning out text into a rhetorical question. Is the tree of the field to be part of the same (moral) world as the human being? No. the tree of the field is not the target of the siege; the people of the town are. No one has the moral right to destroy the trees because of a dispute among human beings The trees must not be destroyed because of a dispute among people.
This prohibition does not apply to trees only. Rather, anyone who breaks utensils, tears garments, destroys buildings, ups up a stream, or ruins food with destructive intent transgresses the command "Do not destroy."
We teach a person that he should not recklessly destroy property and throw it to oblivion. it is better to give it to the poor than to throw it to maggots and worms. Whoever casts many articles on a deceased person violates the commandment against destroying property.
It is forbidden to damage anything that from which there is benefit to human beings
A person should not dump out water from his cistern when others are in need of the water.