Chapter 1: Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth
Table of Contents: Click on each title below to jump to that section on this page.
Summary Article
Lesson Plan
Source Sheet
Experiential Activities
In-Depth Study
Speaker’s Notes
Podcast
Summary Article
By Dr. Akiva Wolff and Rabbi Yonatan Neril [1]
Tu b’Shevat, “the New Year of the Tree,” [2] has become known as a day for raising Jewish-environmental awareness. That the New Year of the Tree has come to be associated with sensitivity to and appreciation of the natural environment is not by chance. Many Jewish sources connect trees with our proper stewardship of the earth. Understanding these teachings on Tu b’Shevat can help us improve our relationship to G-d’s creation, our world.
The Torah is called a “tree of life” (Proverbs 3:18), showing how trees connect to the highest Jewish values. Trees also symbolize a healthy and sustainable environment.
“When G-d created the first man He took him and showed him all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him ‘See My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are. And everything that I created, I created it for you. Be careful not to spoil or destroy My world – for if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it.’” [3]
This Midrash singles out the trees of the Garden of Eden – rather than the Garden of Eden itself – to represent the natural world G-d created and the imperative not to destroy it. Trees also symbolize the necessary environment for human life when the Jewish people enter the land of Israel. Encouraging us to emulate G-d, the Midrash teaches:
“It is said, ‘follow the Lord, your G-d’ ((Deuteronomy 12:5). This means follow His example. When He created the world, His first action was to plant trees, as it written, ‘and G-d planted a garden [of trees] in Eden’ (Genesis 2:8). So you, too, when you will enter the land of Israel, planting trees should be your first involvement.” [4]
There are numerous other essential elements for human beings in a healthy environment, yet these sources identify trees as emblematic. Trees also take a long time to bear fruit, which is why we plant them first. Thus trees represent the long-term needs of the land and people.
The message of Bal Tashchit – the prohibition against waste and needless destruction — also begins with trees. The Torah (in Deuteronomy 20:19-20) teaches us that we are not to cut down fruit trees in wartime. It asks, “Is the tree of the field a man, to go into the siege before you?” Destroying trees is understood by our sages to encompass the entire range of needless destruction.
Rashi (France, 1040-1105 C.E.) understands this verse to mean that, since the tree is not an enemy, we have no right to destroy it or make it suffer. Rabbeinu Bachya (Spain, 1255-1340 C.E.) explains this to mean that trees are so important to people that they are compared to human beings, which is to say, destroying those trees destroys human life, because it may destroy the lives that depend on them.
These Jewish Sages highlight the Torah’s use of trees to generate within us compassion and awareness of interdependence, both essential for living in ecological balance.
In addition to inappropriate destruction, lessons about trees also teach proper use of resources. The Midrash (Tanchuma, Teruma 9) teaches that the Israelites planted saplings when they arrived in Egypt. When the Jews left Egypt, they cut these trees t for use in the Sanctuary of G-d. The trees sang with joy because they were being elevated for a holy, long-term purpose. We too can sanctify our resource use with holy intent.
Jewish teachings about trees apply not only to biblical Israel, but also to the environmental challenges we face in the modern world. Today we use trees in myriad ways, more than ever before, with tremendous ramifications for the future of the rainforests, the global climate, and human civilization itself. A few ways we can reduce our tree consumption are to buy products in bulk and thereby use less packaging, arrange to receive bank, phone, and other bills electronically, and bring a cloth bag instead of using paper (or plastic).
Bringing this wisdom about trees into our daily lives can help us become more cognizant of the precious resources we have been given, and more careful about how we use them. In so doing, we can transform our relationship to the natural world, sanctify our daily actions, and take better care of the planet G-d created.
Dr. Akiva Wolff is currently writing a book, based on his doctoral thesis, on applying the principle of bal tashchit to current environmental issues.
Rabbi Yonatan Neril is the founder and director of Jewish Eco Seminars and the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development. He holds an MA and BA from Stanford University and engaged in Jewish learning for seven years at multiple institutions of Jewish studies in Israel. He lives with his wife and son in Jerusalem.
Notes:
[1] This dvar Torah has been adapted by the authors and Evonne Marouk from Dr. Akiva Wolff’s “The Trees in Jewish Thought” and Rabbi Yonatan Neril’s “The Trees Sang with Joy”.
[2] Mishnah Rosh Hashana 1:1. This is the opinion of Beit Hillel.
Lesson Plan
This material was prepared by Rabbi Yonatan Neril, as part of the Jewcology project. Jewcology.com is a web portal for the global Jewish environmental community that was founded in 2001. Thanks to the ROI community for their generous support, which made this project possible.
Overview:
In this lesson, students will explore a Jewish teaching on planting and using trees. They will learn in study partners several texts from the Torah, Midrash, and later commentators about Jacob planting trees to be used for the Sanctuary, and those trees singing when they were used. Discussion questions will spur students to think in pairs, and then share with the larger group, about how they use trees in particular and resources in general. Experiential activities will help bring the textual learning to life and ground it in lived experience.
Time:
45 minutes to 2 hours
Objectives:
To raise awareness about the array of ways we use and benefit from trees
To put forward a Jewish model for using trees in particular and resources in general
To develop students' connection to trees and the natural world through direct experience.
Introduction to the Source:
Shortly after the exodus from Egypt, God commands the Jewish people to build a Sanctuary in the desert. That Sanctuary was to be constructed, in part, out of 59 large beams of acacia wood. Yet deserts are not known for their wood, and the Midrash addresses the question of where the wood for the Sanctuary came from. It picks up on a textual nuance in the verse where the beams are commanded—an apparently superfluous definite article 'heh'--to reveal a powerful teaching from the depths of the Jewish Oral Tradition.
Development:
Ask the students to split into pairs (chevrutot) and hand out the source sheet to each person. Ask them to learn it together for 15-20 minutes (the Hebrew text is for those whose skills allow them to read it; others can simply use the translation) and to share their thoughts with each other. The questions included on the learning sheet can serve as a guide for their discussion in pairs, as well as afterward when the pairs come together for a whole group discussion to share their thoughts and insights: How do you understand this teaching? Why did the planks of wood sing when they were being brought to build the Sanctuary? What factors contributed to their wanting to sing? What does it mean that a tree sings? What is the sound of their song?
Suggested experiential linkages:
See the 'Experiential Activities' attachment for activities that could be used for this program.
Concluding Discussion and Activity
Questions to Pose:
How do we use trees? How do we benefit from trees?
Discuss how Jacob would likely act in our society today. Where would the wood for his house come from?
What about our consumption of trees--would the trees and other things that we use from the natural world sing in light of the way we are using them? How can we use items in such a way that they sing at being used? What are some of the spiritual roots of unsustainable wood consumption and deforestation?
Group Activity:
As a group, come up with a list of ways to be mindful of one's consumption of trees, and ways to use them with intention and holiness. Examples include:
Only buying wood from producers certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Information is available at www.fsc.org
Come in to 'back to school day' with no new paper. Instead, reuse the backs of previously used paper from your home or office.
Receive only the mail you want and need. Cancel (much of) the junk mail you receive by going to http://www.donotmail.org/form.php?id=50
View your bills online. That includes phone, bank, electricity, cell phone, water, and other bills. Have each of these institutions send you only an e-bill.
Read news and magazines online and cancel the daily newspaper and monthly magazine subscription
Borrow books from friends’ libraries instead of buying them.
Plant and tend your own fruit trees.
If you use firewood, cut down a tree or branch on your own property.
When asked 'paper or plastic,' say neither. Tell them you brought your own bag or can put the item in your backpack.
Live in a smaller house. Think of all the wood you save by not building those extra rooms.
Buy products in bulk. Doing so requires less packaging, much of which is paper.
Experiential Activities
Prepared by Rabbi Yonatan Neril, with assistance from Nili Simhai and Gabe Goldman. This material was prepared as part of the Jewcology project. Jewcology.com is a new web portal for the global Jewish environmental community. Thanks to the ROI community for their generous support, which made this project possible.
Introduction
These teachings on trees can be brought to life through experiential activities that complement and draw out the central messages. Study and discussion guides can be used for chevruta (study partner) learning, which can then be combined with experiential activities to complement and reinforce the lessons. Many of the activities are meant to promote a 'na'aseh v'nishma' (we will do and we will hear) experience, through which doing the activity leads to an understanding that was not possible without the doing. Through the doing of these activities the participants will be able to understand the teaching in a way that would not have been possible through textual learning alone.
Note to educator: Introduce the experiential activity as follows, by linking it to the teaching from the Midrash Tanchuma. The teaching conveys that there is more to trees than cardboard or tissues. The trees of the Midrash sing in joy because of how the Jewish people used them. These activities facilitate participants connecting to trees in a way they have not before: as living beings that we can be in relationship with.
Outdoor Experiential Activities
Make trees real by having students really experience trees: take them outside to a forested area and do one of the following activities (1):
Guided visualization on trees
Introduction: The recent Jewish custom to plant trees on Tu Bishvat is important and praiseworthy, but it will not make up for the rate at which our consumption of trees results in their being cut down. According to statistics based on the governor-appointed Wisconsin Council on Forestry, “In just one year, the average American consumes enough wood and paper to make up a tree 100 feet tall and sixteen inches in diameter. That breaks down to 43 cubic feet of wood and 681 pounds of paper per American per year for building supplies, newsprint, printing and writing paper, tissue towels, product packaging, mail and thousands of other products (2).” It is as if an average US resident cuts down a large tree every year, likely without being aware of it. In our lifetimes, each of us will probably consume a small forest of 70 to 80 large trees. Our extended family will likely consume several thousand trees in their lifetime—a larger forest.
Visualization: Look at a tree that is about 100 feet tall and sixteen inches in diameter. Imagine that all the wood and paper you use this year comes from this tree. Now look at these ten similar-sized trees. Picture using them for your consumption of wood for the next decade. Look again at these ten trees, plus these other 70 spanning a good chunk of the forest that is front of us. Think about how you will consume this amount of trees in your estimated 80-year lifetime. Now let's have a 360 degree perspective, which includes several hundred trees. Consider how you, your spouse, and two children in their lifetimes will consume the equivalent of all the trees in the forest that is now around us. Now multiply that by 10 to arrive at an estimate for the 10 families on your block or apartment building. Visualize the span of trees between here and...(choose an appropriate location). (Only include this at this point if it seems the group would be open to it: Now visualize the consumption today of the world's 6.5 billion people. Some, a small minority, consume the wood of the trees they plant and tend themselves near their homes or fields. Perhaps some of you have met such people. But most of the six billion consume the wood of trees they have never seen, cut from forests in this country and also Russia and Brazil, Canada and Papau New Guinea. Some of the wood is cut from forest plantations—second growth like these trees planted by people. Some of it is old growth—trees hundreds or even thousands of years old, supporting tremendous biological diversity. Because to supply wood to so many people demanding so much wood, you need a lot of trees. And one more detail—the world population is growing to between 8 and 10 billion people, and every day more of the people consume more like us Westerners who use one big tree a year. It's hard to wrap our minds around it—billions of people consuming billions of trees.)
Really Look at Trees: Choose a partner. Partner A (you) should close your eyes, and Partner B should find something nearby of great beauty or interest in nature for you to look at. Have them carefully lead you to the object with your eyes closed. When you get there, have them adjust your head so that you will be able to look directly at the item, within focusing distance. When they touch your thumb, open your eyes and look at the object as if you are taking a picture, and then when they touch your thumb again, close your eyes. With your eyes still closed, describe the object to the other person. You will have a vivid image in your mind which you will not soon forget. The authors of Spirit in Nature write “Just as a photographer can use a close-up or panoramic lens, so, too, can the hikers guide their partners to such sites as a small patch of colorful lichen or a wide open mountain vista...Have the partners switch roles and repeat as often as time and interest allow (3).”
Get a New Perspective on a Tree: Have your students lie face upward under a large tree. Have them look into the branches. Can they see the top branch? What patterns can they see? What other things are present? They can pretend to be the roots of the tree in the soil. What do they feel like? What animals can they see moving around in the tree? As they lie looking upward, read the following, from Rabbi Akiva Wolff: “Trees play an important role in transforming the inanimate world, including the sunlight, into an environment in which other forms of life, and ultimately people, can survive. Trees and other plants absorb and utilize the sun’s rays, through photosynthesis, to produce energy that becomes available to other living beings – indeed it is the primary source of usable energy to other forms of life. Also, trees and other plants are able to utilize the inanimate world for their nutrition – which they absorb through their roots, and transform into usable nutrition for other forms of life. In other words, trees and plants make the planet into a life support system for other forms of life, and ultimately for people. Without trees and other forms of vegetation, life as we know it would not exist, the oxygen content would be far lower, and the climate and the hydrological cycle would be vastly different (4).”
Touch and Identify a Tree: Have your students split into pairs. Ask one student to blindfold the other and lead them to a tree to get to know it by feeling the bark texture, finding branches and figuring out any other way to recognize a specific tree without looking at it. Still blind-folded, have them lead their blind-folded-partner back to where they started. Now have them take off the blindfold and try to find their tree using their sense of touch to confirm it. What other senses helped them to locate their tree? (sounds, sense of balance, smells, warmth etc.) Note to educator: physically demonstrate with a partner how to lead someone blindfolded in the forest—slowly, with verbal warnings about obstacles, and with one hand on the partner's far shoulder and the other hand on the partner's arm.
Listen to Trees: Take your students to a quiet place in nature and ask them to try to listen to the song of trees and the sound of nature. Tell them that according to the Jewish tradition, each blade of grass has its own song. It sings quietly, for those who are attentive enough to hear it. Nature was created with song, and it reflects back the song it was created with.
Indoor experiential activities
Gather tree products like disposable plates and cups, cardboard boxes, paper, junk mail, newspaper, food packaging, etc., and place them on a table in the room. Use them as teaching tools during this lesson. Try entering the classroom with your arms full of these objects and dump them on the floor in the middle of the classroom to begin the lesson.
Ask everyone to close their eyes and think of the most wonderful tree-encounter they have had. Don’t have them share, as it will take too long, but then go into one of these activities.
Brainstorm how many tree-uses you can see in the room you are sitting in (don’t forget clothes and what's in hand-bags/backpacks).
“Categories" game on tree usage. Form teams, and have them come up with usages for trees for 5 different letters of the alphabet (B, D, M, O, Y), and then each team has 5 minutes to list as many as they can for each letter (books, banister, bowling pins, decoys, dowels, driver (golf club), etc). Go around and each team says one until they run out, getting a point for each one.
Quotes on the Wall: Put pieces of paper around the room with different quotes taken from the trees essay or speaker's notes. Give participants some time to stand in front of each quote, read it and write any thoughts or responses on the paper around the quote. They can write comments about the quote itself, or comment on others’ comments about it. They should then move on to the next quote and do the same, until they have gone around the room. This activity gets participants standing and moving, and can be a good activity for when participants first walk into a room, especially if they will be coming in over a staggered period of time and a group discussion can not be begun until everyone is there. Then use these pages as a jump-off to a group discussion and continue the dialogue around the quotes.
Bibliodrama: Do a skit based on the narrative of the Midrash Tanchuma about Jacob and the acacia trees of the Sanctuary. Give voice to the characters in the story by having participants act it out. Based on the teaching of Rabbi Ibn Sho'eev, the bibliodrama could start in the Garden of Eden with Adam taking saplings from there. More extensive information on bibliodrama can be accessed online.
See also Trees, Earth, and Torah , ed. Arthur Waskow ~p. 365 for more activities
(1) Taken and adapted from “Nature Activities for Children,” online at http://www.naturepark.com/act.htm
(2) From “Wisconsin Forestry,” a group sponsored by the governor-appointed Wisconsin Council on Forestry and with leadership from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The group is comprised of leaders in the Wisconsin forestry community who direct the state's efforts to achieve sustainable forestry. Available online at www.wisconsinforestry.org/
(3) Spirit in Nature: Teaching Judaism and Ecology on the Trail, by Matt Biers-Ariel, Deborah Newbrun, and Michal Fox Smart, Behrman House, 2000, p. 11. The description here is adapted from the ‘Opening the Eyes of the Blind’ activitiy.
(4) Taken with permission from his article on Tu Bishvat and Trees.
IN-DEPTH Study
Sustainability: Planting For the Long-Term
Letting Planted Fruit Trees Live
Settling the Land
Use Them Wisely
Trees Today
Notes
By Dr. Akiva Wolff and Rabbi Yonatan Neril[1]
Tu b’Shevat, “the New Year of the Trees [2],” has become known as a day for raising Jewish-environmental awareness. That Tu B’Shvat has come to be associated with sensitivity to and appreciation of the natural environment is not by chance. Trees occupy a special place in Jewish thought. Their symbolic and practical importance is woven throughout traditional Jewish sources, helping us understand – and hopefully, improve – our relationship to G-d’s creation: our world.
* * *
“When G-d created the first man He took him and showed him all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him ‘See My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are. And everything that I created, I created it for you. Be careful not to spoil or destroy My world – for if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it [3].’”
This Midrash singles out the trees of the Garden of Eden – rather than the Garden of Eden itself – to represent the natural world, the work of the Creator. Why should trees be singled out in G-d telling people not to destroy creation? An exploration of this topic will help us understand the deep importance of trees in our tradition, and the lessons they can offer us regarding the serious environmental challenges we face today.
Sustainability: Planting For the Long-Term
Trees are also singled out as symbols of a good environment for human beings. During the creation of the world and the entrance of the Jewish people into the land of Israel, the Midrash stresses the importance of first preparing the necessary life-support system, expressed again as trees:
“It is said, ‘follow the Lord, your G-d’ ((Deuteronomy 12:5). This means follow His example. When He created the world, His first action was to plant trees, as it written, ‘and G-d planted a garden [of trees] in Eden’ (Genesis 2:8). So you, too, when you will enter the land of Israel, planting trees should be your first involvement [4].”
There are, of course, numerous other essential elements for human beings in a healthy environment. Clean water, healthy soil, and fresh air are just a few. Yet the Midrash identifies trees as emblematic. One reason planting trees is primary may be that trees last for a long time on the land once they are planted. Trees also take a long time to bear fruit, which is why we plant them first.
The Talmud teaches the following story: One day as [a man named] Honi was walking along he saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked him “how many years will it take until it will bear fruit?” The man replied “not for seventy years”. Honi asked him, “do you really believe you’ll live another seventy years?” The man answered, “I found this world provided with carob trees, and as my ancestors planted them for me, so I too plant them for my descendants [5].”
Planting trees is a long-term investment which may not bear fruit immediately. Thus, the instruction to plant trees is an instruction to think beyond the present moment to the needs of the future. When one is settling a new land, one might have other, more pressing needs than “planting trees!” But the Midrash teaches us that planting – preparing for the long-term – is key to our responsibility, essential to our long-term success – and a way that we emulate G-d.
By encouraging us to think for the long-term needs of our children and future generations, trees thus represent the ecological principle of sustainability.
Letting Planted Fruit Trees Live
“When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them, for you may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Is the tree of the field a man, to go into the siege before you. However, a tree you know is not a food tree, you may destroy and cut down, and you shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until its submission.” (Deuteronomy 20:19-20 [6])
“When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them, for you may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Is the tree of the field a man, to go into the siege before you. However, a tree you know is not a food tree, you may destroy and cut down, and you shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until its submission.” (Deuteronomy 20:19-20)
The Torah teaches us that we are not to cut down fruit trees in wartime. This message, beginning with trees, is so fundamental that it has become the basis of the teaching of “bal tashchit” – the overall prohibition against needless destruction.
An ambiguity lies at the heart of this critical source about trees. Does the source say that the tree of the field IS human, or ask the question, is the tree of the field human [7]?
These two potential meanings yield lessons about the importance of trees which can illuminate our understanding today.
Rabbeinu Bachya (1255-1340 C.E, Spain) writes:
“The commentators (in the Midrash[8]) explain that the life of man and his food is [from] a tree of the field…and it is not the way of a wise and understanding nation to needlessly destroy something so worthy, and therefore you should not cut down a tree of the field, rather you should protect it from destruction and damage, and take benefit from it [9].”
Rabbeinu Bachya (based on the Midrash [10]) sees the text as reading that the tree of the field represents a human. His explanation is that trees are so important to human life that it is as if they are human life. Destroying those trees destroys human life, because it may destroy the lives that depend on them.
A second view helps us develop a sense of compassion and respect for living creatures. Rashi explains: “Behold, the word ki here serves in the sense of “perhaps”: Perhaps the tree of the field is a man, taking refuge from you within the besieged city that it should suffer the afflictions of hunger and thirst, like the people of the city? (And seeing that this is not the case – supercommentators on Rashi), why should you destroy it?”
Rashi understands this verse to mean that, since the tree is not an enemy, we have no right to destroy it or make it suffer.
In each possible interpretation, trees may stand as a symbol for the abundant resources of the natural world. Because we depend upon them for our life, we must protect and preserve them. Because they are innocent, we should not take out our aggression on them. Being aware of interdependence and having compassion are key traits we can learn from this teaching for how to relate to the natural world.
Settling the Land
The mitzvah of yishuv ha’aretz (settling the land) requires developing the natural world to provide for our needs, including a suitable place to live, work, learn and serve the Creator, as well as appropriate systems for the supply of food, energy, water and transportation needs. This development must be properly done in balance with other considerations, including the ecological integrity of the land.
“[The earth] was not created to be desolate [uninhabited by Man], but rather was created to be settled [11].”
Planting and maintaining trees is a key part of the mitzvah of settling the land of Israel. This is indicated by the great importance that the Sages put on trees in relationship to this mitzvah. For example, according to Jewish law, someone selling land in the land of Israel must give first consideration to any neighbor whose land abuts the parcel of land being sold. If, however, the neighbor wants to use the land for a purpose which will contribute less to yishuv ha’aretz than other buyers will, then he loses this privilege and the land can be sold to another buyer. How do we judge which purpose will contribute more or less to yishuv ha’aretz? According to the Shulchan Aruch:
If someone wants to buy a parcel of land to build houses, and the ben maitzra [neighbor with land abutting the land being sold] wants to buy the same parcel of land to plant crops, the buyer [who wants to build houses] has first right because of ‘yishuv ha’aretz’, and the rule of ‘ben hamaitzar’ doesn’t apply. Some say, if the ben maitzra wants to plant trees, he takes precedence over the other buyer [even if the buyer wants to build houses – since trees contribute at least as much to yishuv ha’aretz [12]].
On this, the Sm’ah (R. Yehoshua Volk, 1555-1614, Poland) writes:
That which is more permanent on the land better fulfills [the mitzvah of] yishuv ha’aretz. Houses are more permanent than crops, and trees are more permanent and rooted in the land than houses [13].
The protection of fruit-producing trees was given even greater status in yishuv ha’aretz than non fruit-producing trees. For example, if an olive tree washes away in a flood, the owner is prohibited from uprooting it from its new location (in a neighbor’s field) and replanting it in his field [14].
The Rabbis – demonstrating their keen grasp of human nature – understood that the original owner, upon losing his tree, would be likely to plant another tree on his land to replace the one that was washed away [15].
This would strengthen the settlement of the land. In addition, the Mishna teaches: “It is forbidden to bring wood from olive trees or grape vines [and some say also, wood from fig trees and date palms] to the [Temple] altar because of [the mitzvah of] yishuv Eretz Yisrael [16].
The commentator Mefaresh explains:
“What is the meaning of ‘because of the settlement of the land of Israel’? Since if they would burn the olive trees and grapevines, there would not be found wine to drink or oil to anoint with, and the land of Israel would be destroyed [17].”
These sources indicate the great importance of trees—and especially fruit trees—in the Land of Israel, and the numerous ways in which Jewish law protects them.
Finally, lest we think that yishuv ha’aretz only has relevance to the settlement of the Land of Israel, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888, Germany) writes that the settlement of the Jewish people in the land of Israel was (and perhaps is) meant to be a model for the rest of the world.
“…the Land of Israel was also to be a Garden of Eden for the people of the Creator’s law. It was meant to show the world, a second time, by its prosperity and its progress, what an abundance of blessing and happiness would be attained here on earth when the will of the Creator is taken as the sole measure for arranging all phases of human life [18].”
Use Them Wisely
In ancient Israel and still today, trees are an important source of wood fiber [19].
For homes, furniture, paper, and numerous other purposes, trees are an essential resource. Being human means taking resources from the land for our own purposes, and Jewish tradition recognizes that this is so. But Jewish tradition gives us a model to help us understand how we should use our resources. Once again, trees are a model which can be understood to teach us about our relationship to creation as a whole. When building the Tabernacle (Mishkan), the Jews were instructed to use acacia wood. Where did this acacia wood come from? The Midrash [20] teaches:
When Jacob went down to Egypt, he received a prophecy that his descendants would be redeemed from there and be commanded to build a Mishkan (Sanctuary) in the desert. Jacob instructed his children to plant acacia trees in Egypt. Over the hundreds of years of slavery, those saplings grew into large, mature trees. Before the Exodus, the Israelites cut down those trees and brought them with them through the Sea of Reeds into the desert [21].When the Israelites built the Sanctuary out of these trees, the trees sang jubilantly before God, as it says in Psalms, “then all the trees of the forest will sing with joy before Hashem [22].”
These trees, cut down for the holy purpose of building the Tabernacle, sang with joy despite the fact that they were cut down. Under many circumstances, we are taught not to cut down trees, but in this situation it was not only permitted, but was a source of joy. Perhaps from this teaching, we can learn what Jewish thought considers to be an appropriate use of our resources, a kind of “Jewish litmus test” for ethical resource use.
In the building of the Mishkan, we can find the ultimate example of use of trees for a higher goal. According to the Jewish Sages [23], these trees and those that preceded them were in relationship with people for thousands of years, from the Garden of Eden to the moment they were cut for the Sanctuary. They were to become the pillars of the Sanctuary of God, which the Torah describes as the dwelling place of the Shechina (Divine Presence) amidst the Jewish people[24], and which existed as a center for Divine worship for over 400 years [25].
These trees were known by people and were used for a holy purpose. Perhaps from this we can learn to use our resources in a way that is transparent, respectful, and holy.
Trees Today
Trees are so important in Jewish thought that the Torah itself is called “a tree of life.” Jewish wisdom about trees has much to teach us about how we relate to G-d’s creation, and to all the natural resources upon which we rely. Perhaps this Torah wisdom can help us think more wisely about using these resources carefully, and living in a more sustainable way.
Jewish wisdom about trees teaches us that:
We need to think and prepare for the future, and not only focus on our short-term needs.
We must avoid needless waste.
Trees are an important part of our life support system.
We have no right to take out our human aggression on trees or other parts of the natural world.
Trees are an essential piece of preparing and maintaining a good environment for human beings.
When we use our resources in a responsible way, this brings holiness.
These teachings apply not only to trees, but to all of our resources. They apply not only to ancient Israel, but to our troubled, environmentally-stressed modern world. Bringing this wisdom into our daily lives can help us become more cognizant of the precious resources we have been given, and more careful about how we use them. In so doing, we will take better care of our world, sanctify our daily actions, and bring joy to creation. Then the words of the Psalmist will be fulfilled: “The heavens will be glad and the earth will rejoice…then all the trees of the forest will sing with joy—before Hashem… [26]”
Notes
[1] This dvar Torah has been adapted by Evonne Marzouk and the authors from Dr. Akiva Wolff’s “The Trees in Jewish Thought” and Rabbi Yonatan Neril’s “The Trees Sang with Joy.”
[2] Mishna Rosh Hashana 1:1. This is the opinion of Beit Hillel. In the Land of Israel, most of the winter rains have fallen by Tu Bishvat, which occurs four months after the beginning of the rainy season. Sap rises within the trees, which begin to flower and bud. Tu Bishvat thus marks a New Year for the fruit of trees concerning mitzvot (commandments) like tithing, distinguishing between last year’s fruits and the fruits of a new year.
[4] Midrash Vayikra Rabba 25:3
[5] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ta’anit, p. 23a
[6] Judaica Press translation
[7] For more on this see this article by Rabbi Yehoshua Kahan.
[8] Sifrei, Finkelstein Edition, Piska 203
[9] Commentary on Deuteronomy 20:19.
[10] Sifrei, Finkelstein Edition, Piska 203
[11] Babylonian Talmud, Chagiga 2b
[12] Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpot, “Laws of Abutters”, 175:21
[13] Commentary of the Smah on Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpot, “Laws of Abutters”, 175:21
[14] Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia 101a
[15] “If a [flooding] river washes away an olive tree and plants it in a neighboring field, and the owner of the tree wants to uproot the tree and replant it in his field, in the land of Israel we don’t allow him, because of yishuv eretz Yisrael.” The purpose for this ruling is to increase the number of olive trees in the land of Israel. The owner of the land upon which the tree was replanted (by the river), since he had not invested time or effort in the tree, would be less likely to bother himself to plant another olive tree were the original owner allowed to reclaim his original tree.
[16] Mishna, Tractate Tamid 29a
[17] Commentary of an unidentified Rabbi writing between 1000 and 1400 C.E. which appears in place of Rashi, to Tractate Tamid, 29b. See Perushi Harishonim for the commentary of the Ra’avad, which also address yishuv eretz Yisrael.
[18] Commentary to Genesis 2:8. In The Pentateuch, vol. 1 Genesis, translated and explained by Samson Raphael Hirsch, rendered into Enlgish by Isaac Levy, 2nd edition, Judaica Press: Gateshead, 1989, p. 57
[19] Israel today meets 10% of its demand for wood from domestic sources, according to Dr. Alon Tal in a lecture given at JNF Jerusalem, July 2009. He authored Pollution in A Promised Land.
[21] This is implicit but unstated in the Midrash.
[22] Psalms 96:12-13, Artscroll translation. This chapter is read or sung every week during Kabbalat Shabbat.
[23] Rabbi Ibn Sho’eev of medieval Spain, commentary on On the end of the Torah portion of Terumah, cited in Torah Shlema, compiled by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kasher (1895-1983), p. 14 of volume that includes Parshat Terumah, to Exodus verse 25:6. Translation here by the author.
[24] Shemot 25:8.
[25] The Mishkan lasted until King Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem in 832 BCE.
[26] Psalms 96, Artscroll translation
Speaker’s Notes
What follows are some ideas and additional resources which may be used to supplement individuals who will be teaching the “Trees and Jewish Thought” article and source sheet. Listed below are several suggested points which could be mentioned as part of a talk. All sources cited are available on the “Trees and Jewish Thought” source sheet and discussion guide.
Why do we celebrate trees on Tu biShevat?
Mishna Rosh Hashana 1:1: Beit Hillel teaches that Tu Bishvat is the new year of the trees (1).
Rabbi Pinchas Kehati, in explaining the Mishna Rosh Hashana 1:1, says that "the Talmud explains that the New Year for the tree was established in Shevat, 'Because most of the rains have already fallen, and the resin has come up in the trees, and as a result the fruits begin to form now."
At a personal level, the same process of sap rising within the tree occurs within us, of new vital energy rising within us during the month of Shevat. This is the time we need to ask ourselves: do I experience the Torah as transformative, uplifting, and inspirational?
Trees represent a good environment for people, and long-term sustainability of the land.
Midrash Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) Raba (Vilna edition) 7:28: The Midrash uses trees as symbols of a good environment for people, as the features of an environment which is fragile and must be taken care of.
Vayikra (Leviticus) Rabbah (Vilna edition) 25:3: Planting trees is identified as an action which imitates G-d’s preparation of the land for people by planting the Garden of Eden. We emulate G-d by preparing the land for future generations – by planting trees.
Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ta'anit, p. 23a: The Honi source demonstrates the importance of planting for our children.
The prohibition against cutting fruit trees in wartime:
Bal Tashchit: Avoiding Waste
Deuteronomy, 20:19-20: The rabbis in the Babylonian Talmud (200 C.E.-~500 C.E.) understand these verses as articulating a general principle beyond war and fruit trees. They make a logical inference from a more stringent to a less stringent case. If Jews can’t cut down fruit trees in the extreme case of a war of conquest, when destruction is the norm, how much the more so does this apply to normal life. This general principle is the mitzvah of Bal Tashchit, or the prohibition of destroying directly or indirectly anything that may be of use to people.
“Conservation” perspective – we save trees because we depend on them for our survival Rabbeinu Bachayei, commentary to Deuteronomy 20:19: His approach could be described as anthropocentric and utilitarian. He sees the Torah's concern about fruit trees as related to the trees' value and usefulness to people. That is, the importance of a fruit tree is the food it provides to people.
Preservation perspective – we save trees because we have no right to destroy other living beings without cause.
Rashi commentary, to Deuteronomy 20:19
Rashi reads the verse as articulating a concern for the needless destruction of a tree. It deserves to live and not by destroyed by human whim. To him, the Torah is stressing that trees should not be denied food or water or destroyed in a siege on a human enemy.
Not all resource use is bad. Some resource use is good. We have an ultimate example of this in the building of the Mishkan.
Shemot 26:15-6:
Shortly after the exodus from Egypt, God commands the Jewish people to build a Sanctuary in the desert. That Sanctuary was to be constructed, in part, out of 59 large beams of acacia wood. These verses are the basis of the Midrash that we will learn. The Midrash that follows picks up on a textual nuance in verse fifteen—an apparently superfluous definite article 'heh' attached to the word 'planks'--to explain why the Torah is referring to them as 'the planks' while in regard to other materials for the Sanctuary no definite article is used.
Midrash Tanchuma (Teruma, 9): Deserts are tree-sparse ecosystems, and the Midrash addresses the question of where the wood for the Sanctuary came from. According to the Midrash (2), when Jacob went down to Egypt, he received a prophecy that his descendants would be redeemed from there and be commanded to build a Mishkan (Sanctuary) in the desert. Before the Exodus, the Israelites cut down those trees and brought them with them through the Sea of Reeds into the desert (3).
Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch understands the word 'rina', used to describe the trees' singing, as from the root 'ranan'--meaning joyful singing—in exaltation and jubilation (4).
For more explanation on the acacia wood as a possible understanding of positive resource use, see “The Trees Sang with Joy” by Yonatan Neril. The Ohr HaChaim explains the deep kabbalistic significance of these planks, which in their vertical position connected the upper holiness to the lower holiness. (For more on the Ohr Hachaim's commentary, see “The Trees Sang with Joy” article (5).) Massive trees like redwoods indeed connect heaven and earth: with roots in the ground and leaves in the atmosphere.
This Midrash says something very profound when it says that the trees were singing when they were being used in the construction of the Sanctuary. Note how in the Midrash, the cut wood seems to be singing. That is, the already cut wood planks sang when they were being further cut for the Mishkan. Dead wood singing. What makes them sing with such joy?
The word sanctuary in Hebrew is “mishkan”, which means “presence.” God chose to dwell in this structure amidst the Jewish people because it and they were holy, and it was produced in a holy way. The trees in being cut down merit to comprise the Sanctuary of G-d.
Rabbi Ibn Sho'eev of Spain: He links the wood used in the Sanctuary to the trees of the Garden of Eden. The Sanctuary represents Creation in perfect harmony, existing precisely according to the Divine Will. The Sanctuary represents a return to the Garden of Eden, and the Sages explain how the language the Torah uses in commanding the building of the Sanctuary parallels the language used in Genesis when God created the world.
“How” and “why” we use natural resources matters.
Using trees today: We have seen that our ancestors related to trees in such a way that the trees broke into song when they were used toward an elevated, long-term use. Their example is instructive for us in terms of how we use trees. Oftentimes, we are not aware we are using a tree. Instead, we relate to a product made of trees in its consumer form—a cardboard box, an envelope, etc. Even if we do know, we may not understand the significance of cutting a tree that may support a rich ecosystem and benefit us in a myriad of ways.
A lesson for our time: Of course the Torah and Midrash are not saying not to use trees. Judaism recognizes that humans need to use natural resources; the question is how we use them and why we use them. Thus our Midrash can be understood as communicating an ethic of proper use. From it we can learn a Jewish litmus test for how we use trees and other resources: would the tree sing based on how I am using it? From this flows the question: Am I using the wood towards a higher goal? Each person judges this for himself or herself. Each time we ask this question we bring consciousness into our consumption and come closer to consuming in holiness. At a practical level, one might commit to reading the news online and canceling the daily newspaper and monthly magazine subscription; buying 100% recycled printer paper; or purchasing wood only from producers certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (6). Increasing our awareness of how we use natural resources can help us to better elevate these resources in holy use. In so doing we can appreciate the abundant blessings Hashem bestows upon us and make our daily consumption part and parcel of our religious practice.
Why trees are important to humans:
Oxygen: Trees provide oxygen for us to breath and capture carbon dioxide, which helps maintain the delicate balance of our atmosphere. Trees contribute continually to the health and well-being of all animals, by providing oxygen through photosynthesis. An average size tree gives off enough oxygen to keep a family of four breathing for one day.
Biodiversity: Rain forests are home to half the plant and animal species in the world, even though rain forests comprise only a small percentage of the earth’s land area.
Food: Trees produce a significant percentage of human food, including fruit and nuts. The Tu Bishvat seder acknowledges this with thanks to the Creator for these foods.
Clean Air: Trees help reduce air pollution that can cause health problems in humans. In one year, an acre of trees absorbs the amount of carbon dioxide produced from driving a car 26,000 miles.
Water: Trees provide water, by converting fog to water. In one night, a 100-foot redwood tree can turn fog into the equivalent of four inches of rain, passing it on to plants, animals and nearby creeks.
Erosion Prevention: The roots from trees help prevent erosion and landslides, and prevent the property loss and damage that can be caused by floodwaters. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, some of the worst damage from the storm surge and winds was inflicted on those areas where coastal vegetation had been removed.
The significance of deforestation
Protecting trees today: According to statistics based on the governor-appointed Wisconsin Council on Forestry, “In just one year, the average American consumes enough wood and paper to make up a tree 100 feet tall and sixteen inches in diameter. That breaks down to 43 cubic feet of wood and 681 pounds of paper per American per year for building supplies, newsprint, printing and writing paper, tissue towels, product packaging, mail and thousands of other products (7).” It is as if an average US resident cuts down a large tree every year, likely without being aware of it. In our lifetimes, each of us will probably consume a small forest of 70 to 80 large trees. Our extended family will likely consume several thousand trees in their lifetime—a larger forest.
Multiply this by millions and billions of people around the world and one can begin to comprehend how humans deforest about thirteen million hectares of forest every year (8). Deforestation to such an extent presents significant challenges for the long-term viability of human civilization which depends on healthy forests to maintain a climate in balance and to support an array of species from which humans benefit (9). It also raises myriad religious questions about our stewardship of the planet to which Hashem entrusted us 'to work and to protect (10).'
What is a “beneficial tree”? The Sages allude to the far-reaching impacts of cutting trees in teaching that “the lights [of the world] suffer…because of the destroyers of beneficial trees (11).” While the Torah places particular importance on fruit-bearing trees, according to some rabbis the definition of 'beneficial trees' can be extended today to include all trees given that humans depend on trees for a range of 'ecosystem services' like filtering water, preventing soil erosion, and converting carbon dioxide into oxygen (12).
One of the environmental successes of modern Israel is the afforestation of the Land of Israel. The Israeli Ministry of the Environment writes that “when Israel was established in 1948, there were fewer than five million trees in the entire area. Today, over 200 million trees have been planted in an active reforestation program spearheaded by the Jewish National Fund.” The National Master plan for Forests and Afforestation designates 7% of the State of Israel for preserving existing forests and planting new ones. While in the past the JNF planted mostly Jerusalem pine, today it plants an array of species, including oak, carob, terebinth, cypress, eucalyptus, acacia, olive, almond, and more (13).
Footnotes:
(2) Midrash Tanchuma (Warsaw edition), Parshat Teruma, Section nine
(3) This is implicit but unstated in the Midrash
(4) Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, based on the commentaries of Samphson Rafael Hirsch, by Rabbi Matityahu Clark, Jerusalem: Feldheim, 1999, p. 245
(6) Information is available at www.fsc.org
(7) From “Wisconsin Forestry,” a group sponsored by the governor-appointed Wisconsin Council on Forestry and with leadership from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The group is comprised of leaders in the Wisconsin forestry community who direct the state's efforts to achieve sustainable forestry. Available online at www.wisconsinforestry.org/
(8) According to The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005 of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.(FAO). The FAO describes the report as “the most comprehensive assessment to date of forest resources, their uses and value, covering 229 countries and territories between 1990 and 2005.” It is available online at http://www.fao.org/forestry/fra2005/en/
(9) For an important examination of the central role of deforestation in the demise of numerous pre-modern societies, see Pulitzer-prize winning author Dr. Jared Diamond's book Collapse.
(10) Genesis 2:15. This is based on an understanding of this command as applying beyond the Garden of Eden, where it was given.
(11) Sukka 29a. Rashi understands 'lights' here as referring to the moon and the stars. He also links cutting down beneficial trees with not appreciating the goodness God bestows on us.
(12) For example, Rabbi Natan Greenberg, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Bat Ayin, accepts such an understanding.
(13) “The Environment in Israel, 2002,” Publication of Israel's Minstiry of the Environment, p. 156
Further Drashot and Articles on Trees in the Torah and on Tu Bishvat
The Trees Sang with Joy by Yonatan Neril
This drash focuses on the Midrash on Jacob and trees cited above in the speaker's notes, with linkages to how we use trees today. It expands on the ideas contained above and is worthwhile reading in advance of teaching on this Midrash.
The Trees in Jewish Thought by Akiva Wolff
This piece surveys trees in a range of Rabbinic sources, including on Bal Tashchit, tree planting, settlement of the Land of Israel, and rabbinic decrees related to fruit trees. It expands on the ideas contained in the above speaker's notes and is worthwhile reading in advance of teaching based on these speaker's notes.
G-d, Man, and Tree by Rabbi Aryeh Strikovsky
The author examines the Torah's question, 'Is man a tree of the field?' and links it to the song of the trees and to stewardship of the land of Israel today. He also explores the command to subdue the earth based on Rabbi Soloveitchik's The Lonely Man of Faith.
Tree = Man? Or Tree = Man! Resolving the Ambiguity at the Heart of Bal Tashchit by Rabbi Yehoshua Kahan
This dvar Torah explores the verse about man as a tree that serves as the basis for the commandment of Bal Tashchit. He examines several rabbinic understandings of this critical verse.
The New Year for the Trees: A Tu B'Shvat Story by Gershon Kranzler
A powerful story about an Eastern European melamed's (Jewish teacher) Tu Bishvat experience among the snow-covered trees in a forest in Poland and how that nature experience inspired him to be a better educator.
Trees are Us by Rabbi Michael Skobac
A general piece on Tu Bishvat and the importance of appreciating trees and connecting to G-d in nature.
Fruit and Vegetables, Man and Animals by Rabbi Nosson Slifkin
This essay is adapted from Seasons of Life. This article focuses on “why the new year of the fruit trees, with all its spiritual significance, is a cause of great celebration.” The author contrasts fruit trees with plants that produce vegetables, and explores why Adam is socalled. He also explains the relation between leaving Egypt and Tu Bishvat.
Planting The Tabernacle by Ariel Shalem
This drash focuses on the Midrash on Jacob and trees cited above in the speaker's notes, with linkages to cattle grazing in former rainforest land today.
This material was prepared by Rabbi Yonatan Neril and Evonne Marzouk, as part of the Jewcology project. Jewcology.com is a new web portal for the global Jewish environmental community. Thanks to the ROI community for their generous support, which made this project possible.