פרשת ויקהל: וְהַמְּלָאכָ֗ה הָיְתָ֥ה דַיָּ֛ם...וְהוֹתֵֽר. על המתח בין נתינה בעין טובה למניעת בזבוז, לאור איסור בל תשחית

their efforts had been more than enough for all the tasks to be done.

A man came from Baal-shalishah and he brought the agent of God some bread of the first reaping—twenty loaves of barley bread, and some fresh grain in his sack. And [Elisha] said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” His attendant replied, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” But he said, “Give it to the people and let them eat. For thus said GOD: They shall eat and have some left over.” So he set it before them; and when they had eaten, they had some left over, as GOD had said.

And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.” But they paid no attention to Moses; some of them left of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

AND MOSES SAID UNTO THEM: LET NO MAN LEAVE OF IT TILL THE MORNING. Its meaning is, do not leave some of the manna over to eat on the next morning. Rather, trust in the Lord that it will descend on the following day. There was no command to eat the entire omer. However, that which a person did not consume was to be thrown outside of his tent.

To not destroy fruit trees: That we have been prevented from chopping down trees when we besiege a city to distress the people of the city and to sadden their hearts. And about this is it stated (Deuteronomy 20:19), “you may not destroy its tree, etc. and you shall not chop it down.” And likewise not to do any damage — such as burning or ripping a garment or breaking a vessel for no reason — entered under this negative commandment And in all of these matters and in all that is similar to them, they, may their memory be blessed, would always say in the Gemara (Kiddushin 32a), “But behold, he is transgressing on account of ‘do not destroy.’” And nonetheless we only administer lashes for one that cuts down a fruit tree, since it is explicit in Scripture. But with other destructions, we [only] give him lashes of rebellion. (See Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Wars 6:10.) The root of this commandment is well-known — it is in order to teach our souls to love good and benefit and to cling to it. And through this, good clings to us and we will distance [ourselves] from all bad and destructive things. And this is the way of the pious and people of [proper] action — they love peace and are happy for the good of the creatures and bring them close to Torah, and they do not destroy even a grain of mustard in the world. And they are distressed by all loss and destruction that they see; and if they can prevent it, they will prevent any destruction with all of their strength. But not so are the wicked — the brothers of the destructive spirits. They rejoice in the destruction of the world, and they destroy themselves — [since] in the way that a person measures, so is he measured; which is to say that he clings to it forever, as the matter that is written (Proverbs 17:5), “the one who rejoices in calamity, will not be cleared (of evil).” And the one who desires the good and rejoices in it, “his soul will dwell in the good” forever. This is known and famous.