The danger unleashed by the novel coronavirus demonstrates that human welfare is intertwined with the lives of other species and with the health of our planet. One reason humans are now at risk from diseases that originate with wild animals is that shrinking ecosystems have brought wild animals in close proximity to human habitation. At the same time, extreme crowding of animals on factory farms encourages the spread of disease and puts our food sources at risk. In a sense, the present pandemic is but a symptom of a larger ecological crisis. While global climate change has already destroyed lives and communities, most of us don't yet feel its immediate effects. The pandemic is teaching us about human vulnerability and about the urgent need to attend to how we relate to our world.
Classical Jewish teachings offer wisdom about the human place in creation. According to the Jewish ethical tradition, what are our responsibilities to the earth, to our fellow creatures, to the humans who will come after us?
The Place of Humans in the World
(26) And God said, “Let us make a human in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.” (27) And God created the human in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (28) God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth.” (29) God said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food. (30) And to all the animals on land, to all the birds of the sky, and to everything that creeps on earth, in which there is the breath of life, [I give] all the green plants for food.” And it was so.
(15) The LORD God took the human and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it. (16) And the LORD God commanded the human, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; (17) but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.” (18) The LORD God said, “It is not good for the human to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him.” (19) And the LORD God formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to the human to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that would be its name. (20) And the human gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to all the wild beasts; but for Adam no fitting helper was found.
The first two chapters of the Book of Genesis offer two accounts of how God creates the world. In the excerpts from these two chapters above, the Torah describes the role of humanity in different terms.
- In Chapter 1 above, what language is used to describe the human's relationship to the earth? To animals? To plants?
- Chapter 2 focuses on the Garden of Eden--What are the human's original responsibilities in the Garden? How is the human role here described differently than in Chapter 1? What points of connection do you see between the two accounts?
- According to these passages, what kind of food does God provide for humanity? How does the human diet shape humanity's relationship with the world according to Genesis? How does the human diet impact our relationship with the planet today?
- How do these passages from Genesis characterize our relationships with other animals? To what degree do these accounts correspond to how humans relate to other species today?
(א) לְדָוִ֗ד מִ֫זְמ֥וֹר לַֽ֭יהוָה הָאָ֣רֶץ וּמְלוֹאָ֑הּ תֵּ֝בֵ֗ל וְיֹ֣שְׁבֵי בָֽהּ׃ (ב) כִּי־ה֭וּא עַל־יַמִּ֣ים יְסָדָ֑הּ וְעַל־נְ֝הָר֗וֹת יְכוֹנְנֶֽהָ׃
(1) Of David. A psalm. The earth is the LORD’s and all that it holds, the world and its inhabitants. (2) For He founded it upon the ocean, set it on the nether-streams.
(16) The heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He gave over to humans.
אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל: כׇּל הַנֶּהֱנֶה מִן הָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה בְּלֹא בְּרָכָה כְּאִילּוּ נֶהֱנָה מִקׇּדְשֵׁי שָׁמַיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״לַה׳ הָאָרֶץ וּמְלוֹאָהּ״.
רַבִּי לֵוִי רָמֵי: כְּתִיב ״לַה׳ הָאָרֶץ וּמְלוֹאָהּ״, וּכְתִיב ״הַשָּׁמַיִם שָׁמַיִם לַה׳ וְהָאָרֶץ נָתַן לִבְנֵי אָדָם״!
לָא קַשְׁיָא כָּאן קוֹדֶם בְּרָכָה, [35b] כָּאן לְאַחַר בְּרָכָה.
Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: One who benefits from this world without reciting a blessing, it is as if he benefitted from objects consecrated to the heavens, as it is stated: “The earth and all it contains is the Lord’s” (Psalms 24:1).
Rabbi Levi raised a contradiction: It is written, “The earth and all it contains is the Lord’s,” (Psalms 24:1) and it is written, “The heavens are the Lord’s and the earth He has given over to humans” (Psalms 115:16).
This is not difficult. Here [the verse that says that the earth is the Lord’s] refers to before a blessing is recited, [35b] and here [where it says that He gave the earth to humans] refers to after a blessing is recited.
The poetry of Psalms glories in God's creation, and different verses configure the place of humanity differently.
- In the talmudic passage above, what contradiction does Rabbi Levi call attention to? Does this contradiction strike you as a problem? How would you resolve the difference between the two verses from Psalms? How does the Talmud resolve them?
- For the Babylonian sage Shmuel, as for the anonymous voice of the Talmud, uttering a blessing is a weighty act. What does a blessing effect, according to the Talmud?
- What does the Talmud's interpretation of the ritual act of blessing imply about how humanity makes use of natural resources?
Bal Tashkhit, "Do Not Destroy"
The imperative of Bal Tashkhit literally means "so as not to destroy," and is generally understood as a prohibition against wastefulness of all kinds. The concept is based on this biblical passage which prohibits the destruction of fruit trees in times of war.
- In the passage above, how do you understand the distinction between trees that yield food and those that don't? What does this passage imply about the boundaries the Torah puts on humans' use of natural resources?
- How does this passage configure the relationship between humanity and the environment?
Rav Zutra said: He who covers an oil lamp or who uncovers a kerosene lamp for no purpose violates the prohibition: Do not destroy. [Because these actions cause fuel to burn more quickly.]
The Babylonian Talmud here expands the prohibition of Bal Tashkhit, applying it to a situation from everyday life rather than war, and applying it fuel rather than fruit trees.
- The Talmud does not provide the reasoning that leads Mar Zutra to connect the biblical prohibition to this every day situation. Can you recapitulate the thinking that let the Rabbis to expand the concept of Bal Tashkhit? Do you think this is a persuasive reading of the biblical verse? Why or why not?
(י) וְלֹא הָאִילָנוֹת בִּלְבַד. אֶלָּא כָּל הַמְשַׁבֵּר כֵּלִים. וְקוֹרֵעַ בְּגָדִים. וְהוֹרֵס בִּנְיָן. וְסוֹתֵם מַעְיָן. וּמְאַבֵּד מַאֲכָלוֹת דֶּרֶךְ הַשְׁחָתָה. עוֹבֵר בְּלֹא תַשְׁחִית. וְאֵינוֹ לוֹקֶה אֶלָּא מַכַּת מַרְדּוּת מִדִּבְרֵיהֶם:
(10) And not only regarding trees, but even one who destructively breaks vessels or rips up clothing or tears down a building or seals up a spring or wastes food violates “Do not destroy”. However, he only receives stripes for disobedience, in accordance with the Rabbis.
The passage below is from the Mishneh Torah, the codification of Jewish law authored by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, or Maimonides (1128-1204). Maimonides lists a whole variety of acts that are prohibited by Bal Tashkhit. The punishments that he assigns to these transgressions indicates that he does not consider these actions transgression of the biblical commandment, but rather of laws put in place by the Rabbis.
- How would you characterize the group of prohibited actions that Maimonides lists? Can you sum them all up in one general category? Can you think of other examples of waste or destruction that he might have included in the list? Why do you think he constructed the list as he did?
- Maimonides relates to Bal Tashkhit as a commandment that addresses individuals. How can this concept shape the behavior of institutions or communities?
- In what ways has the pandemic changed your relationship to food and other natural resources? What are some changes that you can envision sustaining when the crisis of the pandemic is over?
Tza'ar Ba'aley Hayim, Compassion for Animals
ע"י מעשה באו
מאי היא
דההוא עגלא דהוו קא ממטו ליה לשחיטה אזל תליא לרישיה בכנפיה דרבי וקא בכי אמר ליה זיל לכך נוצרת
אמרי הואיל ולא קא מרחם ליתו עליה יסורין
וע"י מעשה הלכו
יומא חד הוה קא כנשא אמתיה דרבי ביתא הוה שדיא בני כרכושתא וקא כנשא להו אמר לה שבקינהו כתיב (תהלים קמה, ט) ורחמיו על כל מעשיו
אמרי הואיל ומרחם נרחם עליה
[The extreme sufferings of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi] arrived because of an incident.
What was it?
There was a certain calf that was being led to slaughter. He went and hung its head at the corner of Rabbi's clothes, and he was weeping.
Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to him: Go, it was for this you were created.
It was said: Since he was not merciful, let afflictions come upon him.
Then they [the afflictions] departed because of another incident.
One day, Rabbi's maidservant was sweeping his house. There were young weasels [karkushta] lying about, and she was sweeping them out.
Rabbi said to her: Let them be, as it is written: “The Lord is good to all; and His mercies are over all His works” (Psalms 145:9).
It was said: Since he was merciful, let us have mercy on him.
Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi was the leading sage of his generation, in the second century CE. He represented the Jewish community to the Roman government and is credited with editing the Mishnah. This story appears in the Babylonian Talmud (there is a variant in Genesis Rabbah Noah 33:3), and it is not clear if it has roots in reality or was invented to convey a moral lesson. The story comes to account for an earlier statement in the Talmud that Rabbi suffered for thirteen years from kidney stones and scurvy.
- Talmudic stories are famously terse. How would you retell this story in your own words?
- Do you think the narrator is advocating vegetarianism? What do you think Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi did wrong? Would another person who acted similarly be subject to the same affliction?
- What is the significance of the two species that are specified in the story?
- What ethical lessons does this story convey for how we relate to animals and to animal slaughter today?
The Torah teaches that human life is bound up with the flourishing of the earth and its creatures. Humans do not own the earth, and our charge to protect trees, animals, and other resources expresses our responsibilities to God and our own self-interest.
Even as the pandemic demonstrates human vulnerability, it also illustrates the power of collective action to make transformational change. To respond to the virus, we have made drastic changes in our day-to-day life that would have been unthinkable before the pandemic struck. What can we do to capture this newfound collective will to change? What can we do to avoid a return to our worst abuses of the environment?