Ecology is a highly practical branch of science. Nothing could be more “down to earth” than preservation of the planet. Yet there is a facet of ecological awareness that is often overlooked. This is its spiritual dimension. When we act as self-absorbed individuals, with little regard for anyone or anything that exists outside ourselves, we immediately fall into moral and spiritual error. As the Yiddish saying goes, “A blind horse heads straight for the pit!”
Thus, countless laws in the Torah adjure us to open our eyes, and act responsibly and compassionately toward the world around us. Among other ecological mandates, it promulgates the laws of bal tashchis (neither to destroy wantonly, nor waste resources unnecessarily); the prohibitions of cutting down fruit trees, or trees surrounding an enemy city in wartime; the laws of covering excrement; and the obligation to removing debris from public places, etc. In doing so, the Torah indicates that although we may feel at odds with nature, having to struggle to survive, in truth the world comprises a potentially harmonious whole in which each element is precious and deserving of respect.
Rav Avraham Yitzhak Kook (1865-1935), Ashkenazic chief rabbi of pre-state Israel and a leading 20th century thinker, expresses this idea compellingly: “If you are amazed at how it is possible to speak, hear, smell, touch, see, understand, and feel – tell your soul that all living things collectively confer upon you the fullness of your experience. Not the least speck of existence is superfluous, everything is needed, and everything serves its purpose. ‘You’ are present within everything that is beneath you, and your being is bound up with all that transcends you.”
A spiritually attuned person will recognize that every creature is essentially bound up with every other creature, and that we share a collective destiny. Thus, our most fundamental attitude should be one of compassion, not acquisitiveness or aggression. This ethic applies toward all levels of creation. As master kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Cordovero of Safed (RaMaK, 1522-1570) adjures: “One’s compassion should extend to all creatures, and one should neither despise nor destroy them; for the Supernal Wisdom [divine wisdom that brings all existence into being] extends to all of creation – the “silent” or mineral level, plants, animals, and humans. This is why our sages have warned us against treating food disrespectfully. Just as the Supernal Wisdom despises nothing, since everything proceeds from it – as it is written, ‘You have formed them all with wisdom’ (Psalms 104:24) – a person should show compassion to all of the works of the Holy One, blessed be He.”
The RaMaK’s words bespeak a God-centered view of the universe, as opposed to one that is man-centered or nature-centered. In the words of the Baal Shem Tov (Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, 1698-1760), we must seek the welfare of all precisely because we are equally God’s works, created to perform His will.
“Do not consider yourself superior to anyone else,” the founder of chassidism states. “In truth, you are no different than any other creature, since all things were brought into being to serve God. Just as God bestows consciousness upon you, He bestows consciousness upon your fellow man. In what way is a human being superior to a worm? A worm serves the Creator with all of his intelligence and ability; and man, too, is compared to a worm, as the verse states, ‘I am a worm and not a man’ (Psalms 22:7). If God had not given you a human intellect, you would only be able to serve Him like a worm. In this sense, you are both equal in the eyes of Heaven. A person should consider himself, the worm, and all creatures as friends in the universe, for we are all created beings whose abilities are God-given.”