DEUTERONOMY XXI:10-XXV:19
CARE OF FLORA AND FAUNA
The Torah’s respect for flora and fauna, which forbids the destruction of a tree bearing fruit and reduces the consumption of meat to a small group of animals, serves as the subject of an essay by Yael Shemesh on our chapters. According to Jewish tradition, the human being was installed on earth during the last hour of the sixth day of creation to signal that everything that was previously created was for the use and benefit of this being, who received the breath of the Divine at the time of his creation.
According to this perspective, man can dispose of nature according to his needs, without paying too much attention to the consequences on the delicate ecological balance. On the other hand, if it is considered that man is an entity that must be framed in the totality of creation, this man must assume the responsibility of behavior in accordance with the demands of nature for his healthy survival. That means that man must take care of the rivers and oceans, watch over the forests and jungles, ensure the purity of the air and an appropriate temperature for the terrestrial globe.
While the creation account in Bereshit (Genesis) points to an anthropocentric position, Shemesh points out that the Book of Iyov (Job) resizes the importance of man, teaching that God’s interest goes far beyond man’s needs and interests. There is no doubt that nature contains many elements which serve no purpose to man; on the contrary, many creatures challenge and defy it.
It is enough to mention the existence of viruses and retroviruses, which constitute a constant threat. What is the benefit that a panther or a rhinoceros offers to man? Apparently, these creatures have an individual reason for their existence, which is independent of any human interests or needs. Both positions can be held according to Jewish tradition. According to the Talmud, man was God’s last creation so that, like an earthly king, he would enter the banquet hall after the necessary arrangements had been made. But if man inflates himself with false pride, he can be reminded that a humble mosquito was created first.
The case of the Shemitah (Sabbatical year), according to the Torah, serves to confirm man’s faith in God, who will provide him with the indispensable sustenance; notwithstanding that the land will not be sown in the seventh year. At the same time, we take note of the importance of this norm for the ecological system, which allows the renewal of the earth, cannot be denied. In this connection one may also mention the laws prohibiting the sexual mixing of different animals, with the obvious purpose of preserving the qualities of each species.
Although the psalmist states Hashamayim shamayim LaShem, veha’arets natan livenei adam, “while the heavens are the habitat of God, he has granted the earth to man,” there is no doubt that Jewish tradition demands respect for nature. From the beginning, when Adam was placed in Gan Eden (Garden of Eden), he received the Divine instruction that he was to “work and take care” of that garden.
MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA
CONTAINS 27 POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 47 PROHIBITIONS
532. Deuteronomy 21:11 Law concerning the beautiful woman captured in war
533. Deuteronomy 21:14 Do not sell the beautiful woman captured in war
534. Deuteronomy 21:14 Do not force a beautiful woman captured in war after having sex with her to work as a slave
535. Deuteronomy 21:22 Hang the executed person when so directed
536. Deuteronomy 21:23 Do not leave the hanged man at night on the gallows, and do not allow a dead body to stay up at night in his home, unless it is in his honor
537. Deuteronomy 21:23 To bury the one who was sentenced by the court to die, or any other person on the very day of his death
538. Deuteronomy 22:1 Return lost property to its owner
539. Deuteronomy 22:3 Do not avoid the sight of a lost object
540. Deuteronomy 22:4 Do not ignore your neighbor’s fallen animal because of the weight of his burden
541. Deuteronomy 22:4 Helping to lift a heavy burden of a Jew
542. Deuteronomy 22:5 A woman must not wear men’s clothes
543. Deuteronomy 22:5 A man must not wear women’s clothes
544. Deuteronomy 22:6 Do not seize the mother bird while the eggs or chicks are in the nest
545. Deuteronomy 22:7 To drive away the mother bird from the nest before taking the eggs or chicks
546. Deuteronomy 22:8 To build a parapet around a dangerous roof or pit
547. Deuteronomy 22:8 Do not leave a dangerous roof or hole without a parapet
548. Deuteronomy 22:9 Do not sow a mixture of seeds in a vineyard in the Land of Israel
549. Deuteronomy 22:9 Do not eat the produce of a mixture of seeds in a vineyard of the Land of Israel
550. Deuteronomy 22:10 Do not work with animals of different species together
551. Deuteronomy 22:10 Do not wear linen and woolen cloth
552. Deuteronomy 22:13 The mitzvah of Kiddushin (marrying a woman)
553. Deuteronomy 22:19 The man who spreads an evil report of his wife’s immorality will remain with her forever
554. Deuteronomy 22:19 A man who spreads an evil report of his wife’s immorality cannot divorce that woman
555. Deuteronomy 22:24 The Court is to stone the person so sentenced
556. Deuteronomy 22:26 Do not punish the person who has been compelled to transgress
557. Deuteronomy 22:29 The rapist must marry his victim
558. Deuteronomy 22:29 A rapist cannot divorce his victim
559. Deuteronomy 23:3 A sterile man must not marry a young Jewish girl
560. Deuteronomy 23:4 A bastard who is the product of an adulterous or incestuous union must not marry a young Jewish girl
561. Deuteronomy 23:6 A person belonging to the peoples of Ammon or Moav should not marry a young Jewish girl
562. Deuteronomy 23:7 Not to make peace with the nations of Ammon or Moav before a war
563. Deuteronomy 23:9 A descendant of Esau cannot marry a Jewish person even after he has converted to Judaism, nor can his son or daughter
564. Deuteronomy 23:8 An Egyptian cannot marry a Jewish person even after he has converted to Judaism, nor can his son or daughter
565. Deuteronomy 23:11 The ritually unclean person must not enter the area (Temple Mount) of the Levites
566. Deuteronomy 23:13 Preparing a washing outside the field during war
567. Deuteronomy 23:14 Prepare a shovel for every person in the army so that he can cover his excrement
568. Deuteronomy 23:16 Not to return to the Land of Israel a slave who fled to the diaspora
569. Deuteronomy 23:18 Do not oppress a slave who fled from his master to the diaspora to the Land of Israel
570. Deuteronomy 23:11 Do not have relations with a woman outside of marriage
571. Deuteronomy 23:19 Do not bring to the Temple the pay of a prostitute or the price-value of a dog
572. Deuteronomy 23:20 Do not lend money with interest from a Jew
573. Deuteronomy 23:21 Charging interest to the non-Jew
574. Deuteronomy 23:22 Do not postpone the vow to make an offering, nor postpone the offering of an animal consecrated for the Three Feasts
575. Deuteronomy 23:24 Keep promises and oaths
576. Deuteronomy 23:25 Allow the laborer to eat certain products while he works
577. Deuteronomy 23:25 The laborer owes no more of the produce that is permitted to him
578. Deuteronomy 23:26 A laborer should not eat of his employer’s harvest during his work
579. Deuteronomy 24:1 Whoever wishes to divorce his wife must do so through a Get (divorce document)
580. Deuteronomy 24:4 A divorced man cannot marry the woman he divorced after she has married and divorced another or widowed
581. Deuteronomy 24:5 A newlywed should not separate from his wife during the first year of marriage
582. Deuteronomy 24:5 A newlywed is to remain with his wife during the first year of marriage
583. Deuteronomy 24:6 Do not pawn objects with which food is prepared for sustenance
584. Deuteronomy 24:8 Do not pluck marks from tzara’at
585. Deuteronomy 24:10 Do not forcibly seize a pledge of pawn from the debtor
586. Deuteronomy 24:12 Do not withhold a pledge from its owner when he needs it
587. Deuteronomy 24:13 Return the pledge when its owner needs it
588. Deuteronomy 24:15 To pay the laborer in the day he labored
589. Deuteronomy 24:16 A person cannot testify in a trial about a close family member
590. Deuteronomy 24:17 Do not pervert righteousness in the case of a convert or an orphan
591. Deuteronomy 24:17 Do not take a pledge from a widow
592. Deuteronomy 24:19 Leave the sheaves forgotten for the poor
593. Deuteronomy 24:19 Do not take the sheaves of forgotten grain or fruit
594. Deuteronomy 25:2 Scourging a person who transgresses certain prohibitions
595. Deuteronomy 25:3 Do not give additional scourging or beat a Jew
596. Deuteronomy 25:4 Do not muzzle a domestic animal while you are working
597. Deuteronomy 25:5 A childless widow is not to marry anyone else but her deceased husband’s brother
598. Deuteronomy 25:5 A childless widow should marry the brother of the deceased husband
599. Deuteronomy 25:9 The mitzvah of Chalitsah (frees a woman from marrying her deceased husband’s brother)
600. Deuteronomy 25:12 To save the person persecuted by a murderer by attacking the murderer
601. Deuteronomy 25:12 Have no mercy on a murderer who persecutes
602. Deuteronomy 25:13 Do not keep inaccurate scales or weights, even when they are not in use
603. Deuteronomy 25:17 Remember what Amalek did to the Jewish people when he left Egypt
604. Deuteronomy 25:19 Eradicating the descendants of Amalek
605. Deuteronomy 25:19 Do not forget what Amalek did to the Jewish people when he left Egypt
