Teaching #2: Bal Tashchit – Summoning the Will Not to Waste

Core Teaching #2: Bal Tashchit – Summoning the Will Not to Waste

The commandment of Bal Tashchit– do not destroy or waste– has long been considered central to a Jewish environmental ethic. Indeed, Rabbi Norman Lamm understands it to be “the biblical norm which most directly addresses itself to the ecological situation.”[1] What is the basis for the commandment not to waste? We will explore what Bal Tashchit is, how it applies to food, and how it relates to our lives.

Explore all Bal Tashchit Materials:

• Summary Article
  

• Longer Article
  

• Source Sheet
  

• Audio Podcast
  

• Video

Now featuring! Do Not Destroy: Trees, Art, and Jewish Thought, an Educator Resource Guide from the Contemporary Jewish Museum

These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

[1] “Ecology in Jewish Law and Theology” in Faith and Doubt, by Rabbi Norman Lamm, 2006, KTAV Publishing House: Jersey City, NJ. Rabbi Lamm is former chancellor of Yeshiva University.

---