Pardes Daily – Baal Tashchit: Sacred Eating
Episode 4
Sources: Sifrei Devarim 203:8-10, Shabbat 140b:9, Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 17:1
Course Description: Because the Human is a Tree in the Field: Deuteronomy 20 prohibits the downing of fruit-bearing trees in times of war. We will explore the simple and deep meaning of this mitzvah (commandment) as it expands and contracts over the course of 3 millennia of interpretation, both as a technical commandment and as a symbol for our relationship with consumption, sustainability, and the natural world. Is “the human a tree of the field”? (Deut. 20:19) Find out in our Tu Bishvat Daily Challenge!
Credits
Host: Rabbi Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy
Producer: Rabba Shani Gross
Podcast Editor: Evan Feist