[Avodah] Tu B'Shvat "Don't Cut Your Nose to Spite Your Face" (No Tachanun Today)

[Michael Makovi]

> "When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it to seize it,
> do not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them, for from it you
> will eat, and you shall not cut it down; for is the tree of the field a man
> that it should be besieged before you?" (Devarim 20:19)
> In the midst of a chapter dealing with warfare, which by definition is
> destructive, the Torah demands that the Jew remains conscious of the need to
> maintain his regard for the general welfare and cleave to his love of
> goodness and peace. If we try to remain good even at times that call forth
> our basest instincts, we will try not to waste even a mustard seed, and
> resultingly will be able to perfect our characters steadily. (Chinuch).

It is funny that with this pasuk, I interpret it textually as Rashi
but ta'am-ically as ibn Ezra.

According to Rashi, the pasuk is a rhetorical question - "is the tree
of the field a man?". I forget what Rashi's proposed ta'am is, but
it's not bal tashkit.

Whereas ibn Ezra says the pasuk is an affirmative statement - "man IS
a tree of the field", and his ta'am is bal tashkit - man should not
destroy trees because doing so harms himself.

Textually, Rashi fits better I think. But ta'am-ically, I go with ibn
Ezra. I interpret the pasuk as follows:

"is the tree of the field a man" - You are warring against the men,
and thus you are right (or allowed to) kill them, but is the tree part
of this war? Does it deserve to die? No! You shall preserve the trees
and most certainly not destroy them, for they are valuable and worthy
of preservation, and since they are not part of the war, you cannot
destroy them. Whereas the men you are fighting are also valuable and
worthy - tzelem elokim! - but the war justifies killing them despite
their worth. The Torah is teaching us, don't engage in destructive
fire and crater warfare - only destroy what is part of the war, and
don't needlessly destroy what is valuable to man.

Mikha'el Makovi