Derech HaTeva as a Source for Jewish Environmentalism

(1) To not keep a witch alive: To not keep a witch alive. Rather, we kill her, as it is stated (Exodus 22:17), "You shall not keep a witch alive." And it is not specifically a witch, but rather anyone that does magic. It is just that it stated it according to what is common, as women are more involved with magic than men (Sanhedrin 67a).

(2) From the roots of the commandment are that it is known that magic is a very bad thing and causes many mishaps to people. I do not have to write at length about it, as the things are well-known. And therefore we were commanded to put away from the world someone who makes efforts with this, as he is coming against the will of God, as He desires [the world's] settlement and that everything should be administered in a natural way. As nature was at the beginning of creation and this one wants to change everything. And according to my opinion, the matter of magic is that at the beginning of creation, God, blessed be He, placed for each and every thing in the world a nature [through which] to accomplish its action well and straight, for the good of the creatures of the world that He created; and He commanded each one to act according to its species, as it is written about all the creatures, in Parshat Bereshit (Genesis 1:12), “according to its species.” And He also made a higher force govern each and every one from above, to compel it to perform its action; as they, may their memory be blessed, said (Bereshit Rabbah 1), “There is no [blade of] grass below that does not have a constellation above that tells it, 'Grow!'”And besides the action that each and every one does according to its nature, there is another action that they have, by mixing one specie with another. And in the craft of this mixing there are some angles that were not permitted for people to utilize, because God knows that the end result that will come out for people from these angles will be bad for them. And on account of this, He prevented them from them. And this is what they, may their memory be blessed, said more generally (Shabbat 67b), “Anything that has healing in it does not have the 'ways of the Amorite' in it”; meaning to say, it should not be forbidden from the perspective of magic – since there is a benefit to it that is found from true experience, it is not from the forbidden angles, as they are only forbidden because of the perspective of their damage. And there is another matter in these forbidden angles of mixture and machinations for which they were forbidden. [It is] because the power of this mixture is so strong that it negates the power of the constellations that are assigned upon the two species. And the illustration of this is that it is just like that which you see with the grafting of one specie with a different one, that a new third specie is created. It comes out that the grafting negates the power of both of them. And so we have been prevented from bringing up to our minds to switch the perfect acts of God, even if something that appears to be pleasing comes out in our hand.

IF A BIRD’S NEST CHANCE TO BE BEFORE THEE. This also is an explanatory commandment, of the prohibition ye shall not kill it [the dam] and its young both in one day,¹³⁴Leviticus 22:28. because the reason for both [commandments] is that we should not have a cruel heart and be discompassionate, or it may be that Scripture does not permit us to destroy a species altogether, although it permits slaughter [for food] within that group. Now, he who kills the dam and the young in one day or takes them when they are free to fly [it is regarded] as though he cut off that species.

(1) YE SHALL KEEP ‘CHUKOTHAI’ (MY STATUTES). “And these are they: thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind, etc.

the reason for [the prohibitions against] kilayim [“mixed kinds,” as will be explained further on], is that G-d has created in the world various species among all living things, both plants and moving creatures, and He gave them a power of reproduction enabling them to exist forever as long, as He blessed be He, will desire the existence of the world, and He further endowed them with a power to bring forth [only] after their kind, and that they should never be changed, as it is said with reference to all of them [at the time of Creation], after its kind.⁹⁷Genesis 1:11, 21, 24. This driving force in the normal mating of animals is for the sake of preserving the species, even as human beings engage in sexual activity for the sake of having children. Thus one who combines two different species, thereby changes and defies the work of Creation, as if he is thinking that the Holy One, blessed be He, has not completely perfected the world and he desires to help along in the creation of the world by adding to it new kinds of creatures. Moreover, the mating of diverse species of animals does not produce offspring, and even in the case of those that are by nature close to each other [such as the horse and the ass], from which offspring are born, such as mules, their seed is cut off, for they themselves [the mules] cannot produce offspring. Thus from the point of view of these two matters [i.e., the changing in the order of Creation and the sterility of the product, we see that] the act of combining different species is despicable and futile. Even when diverse species of vegetation are grafted together, their fruits do not reproduce afterwards, and they too are prohibited because of the two above-mentioned reasons [for the prohibition of mixing different species together]. This is the meaning of the prohibition [stated here in the verse], thou shalt not sow thy field with two kinds of seed, which in the opinion of our Rabbis⁹⁸Kiddushin 39 a. constitutes a prohibition against grafting [diverse kinds of trees, or trees and vegetables, and is not a prohibition against merely sowing together diverse kinds of seed].⁹⁹This interpretation is based upon the fact that Scripture states, thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind; thou shalt not sow thy field with two kinds of seed. By placing these two prohibitions together, Scripture is teaching that just as in the case of cattle, the verse refers to well-definable objects [cattle], so in the case of sowing the field, Scripture refers to well-definable objects — trees, vegetables, etc., — and is not a mere prohibition against sowing diverse kinds of seed [although that too is forbidden], since these are not yet distinguishable. But He has prohibited also the mere sowing together of diverse kinds of seed, because their nature and form change when they derive nutrition from each other, and thus each kernel of it is as if it were grafted together from two kinds. Similarly, He has forbidden to plow with an ox and an ass together,¹⁰⁰Deuteronomy 22:10. because it is customary among tillers of the soil to bring their working animals into one cattle-shed, and there they might come to mate with a diverse kind.¹⁰¹This reason is also stated by Maimonides in the Guide of the Perplexed, III, 49 (p. 267 in Friedlander’s translation). And one of our colleagues¹⁰² adds to the reason for the prohibition against mixing seeds, that it is in order not to throw into disorder the primary forces which bring about the growth of the plants, when they derive nutrition from each other,¹⁰³A sense of the importance of ecology, of maintaining a proper well-ordered relationship between the primary forces of nature, is clearly discerned here. as is indicated in the saying of our Rabbis in Bereshith Rabbah:¹⁰⁴Bereshith Rabbah 10:7. See Vol. I, pp. 40, 70-71, where the same text is quoted. “Said Rabbi Simon: There is not a single kind of herb that does not have a constellation in heaven which smites it and says to it, ‘Grow.’ It is with reference to this that Scripture says, Knowest thou ‘chukoth shamayim’ (the statutes of heavens)? Canst thou establish ‘mishtaro’ (the dominion thereof) in the earth?¹⁰⁵Job 38:33. — [mishtaro being derived from the root shoter (executive officer)].” Now he who grafts diverse kinds of plants or sows seeds of diverse kinds with the intention that they derive nutrition from each other, thereby destroys ‘chukoth shamayim’ (the statutes of heavens). This is why He has said, Ye shall keep ‘chukothai’ (My statutes), as they are the statutes of the heavens. And so did Rabbi Chanina in the name of Rabbi Pinchas say,¹⁰⁶Vayikra Rabbah 35:4. that [the statutes mentioned here in the verse] are because of “the statutes with which I formed My world.” I have already written in the section of Bereshith¹⁰⁷Genesis 2:8. Vol. I, p. 70. that all plants have their foundations in higher [forces], and it is from there that the Eternal commanded them the blessing, even life forever.¹⁰⁸Psalms 133:3. Thus he who mixes different kinds of seeds, denies and throws into disorder the work of Creation.

(1) To not mate a beast, a specie with not its specie: To not mate a beast [in a] forbidden mixture - meaning to say that we not graft a male with any specie of [domesticated] beast or [wild] animal which is not its specie - as it is stated (Leviticus 19:19), "your beast shall you not mate [in a] forbidden mixture." And in its explanation, they, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Metzia 91a) that the obligation is from when he inserts like 'the brush into the tube' - and then is he lashed.

(2) It is from the roots of the commandment that God, blessed be He, created His world with wisdom, with understanding and with knowledge, and [so] He made and formed all of the forms according to that which it was fitting for its matter to be, to be designed [according to] the design of the world - and blessed is He that knows [this]. And this is what is stated about the story of creation (Genesis 1:31), "And God saw everything that He had done, and behold, it was very good." And His seeing, blessed be He, is His knowledge and contemplation about things; as He, blessed be He, does not need seeing things with the eye after the act, due to His great level; since everything is revealed and known and apparent in front of Him before the act, [just] like after the act. But the Torah speaks to people with words directed to them, and it calls things by the name of things that are aimed at them, as it only possible to speak with a creature with what is known to him - as who can understand what he does not have the power to understand? And about what is similar to this, they, may their memory be blessed, said (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:18:2), [it is] in order to break [to assuage] the ear to that which it can hear. And in that God knew that everything He made was designed perfectly for its matter that it needed in His world, He commanded to each and every specie to make its 'fruit' for its specie - as it is written in the Order of Bereshit - and that the species not mix, lest it will take away from their perfection and He [therefore] not command His blessing upon them. And according to what it seems in our thoughts, it is from this root that we were prevented from mating beasts [in a] forbidden mixture. And likewise from this reason were we warned about this, combined with another reason that we already wrote about species of seeds and trees (Sefer HaChinukh 62).