[Avodah] The halakhos of ecology

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Micha Berger quoted Areivim:
> BTW, What is the Torah's take on protecting endangered
> species? Do we care about this at all?

I found the Torah's requirement - that man is indeed obligated to protect the environment - to be a pervasive theme throughout Chapter 1 of Rav J.B. Soloveitchik's "The Lonely Man of Faith".

from the Joseph Aronson edition, page 11: "Adam... was charged with the duty to cultivate the garden and to keep it, l'avdah ul'shamrah." (transliteration mine)

I must concede that this might be the only line in that book which refers to the OP so blatantly. After all, RYBS's main concern (in this work) is more about Man's psychological makeup than his legal responsibilities.

Alternatively, see what Rav Samson Rafael Hirsch writes on that pasuk (Bereshis 2:15): "Nature itself finds its appointed purpose promoted, as well as the necessary condition for its continuance, in Man's conscientious dutiful use of the bounties of nature, as expressed by avodah v'shmirah." (transliteration mine)

My interpretation is that avodah and shmirah do not *merely* mean that if Man sins, then Nature will not function properly. It means that, but it also means more than that. I feel that RSRH's reference to "Man's conscientious dutiful use of the bounties of nature" means that these bounties must not be squandered. Above and beyond anything which Bal Tashchis says to the Jew, Ul'shamrah tell all of mankind that he must carefully shepherd the world's blessings, in accordance with his best knowledge and experience.

(There may be cases where this pasuk obligates Man to protect endangered species (or endangered resources of other kinds). But there may also be cases where the protection of one resource drains other resources. The answer is not always clear-cut.)

Akiva Miller

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