כי האדם עץ השדה - לימוד לט"ו בשבט

When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an axe against them; for thou mayest eat of them, but thou shalt not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of thee? Only the trees of which thou knowest that they are not trees for food, them thou mayest destroy and cut down, that thou mayest build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it fall.

And God said: ‘Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth.’ And it was so.

Fruit tree, making fruit according to its species: [The verse refers to all trees as fruit trees] since all trees are called fruit trees and all trees make fruit, some for food and some for medicine. And that which is stated, "making fruit according to its species," appears to be explained, in that 'man is [like] the tree of the field' and [a tree] is similar to him, whether as a result of its stature or whether as a result of its enduring remnant, like man, as it is stated (Job 14:7), "Since there is hope for a tree." And all of the grasses relate to the other animals, whether because of their being of lowly stature or whether because they don't have roots and branches, but rather (Job 14:7), "like a flower, comes out and withers." And the Holy One, blessed be He, created all types of food, such that [each food] should be appropriate to the constitution of the eater; and combined every 'type [of food] to its type' [of eater], as it is stated (Psalms 145:16), "and He satiates the will of all life," which means to say [He feeds it with] something that is its will, from the angle that it is close to its nature and its constitution. And that is why it states, "And to all the living on the earth, etc... all of the green grass to eat." Since grass is not specifically appropriate except for the species of physical life that do not speak. But for man, He said, "Behold, I have given all grass, etc. and all trees etc.," since from the physical aspect of man, the grass is also appropriate for him, and from the aspect of the spiritual mixture within him, the fruit of the tree is appropriate for him. And then every 'specie will go with it specie;' and that is why it says [here], "according to its species," [meaning] to the one who is its specie, which is man. And [with] grass that give off seed, the phrase, "according to its species," is not mentioned, since it is also for man [as well as animals], even though it is not completely its specie. But when [the grass] is [actually] made, [the Torah] does mention "according to its species," from the angle that [man] is, in one aspect, its species, which is the physical side of man.