Preserving the Cistern: Seeing the Earth as a Resource for All

Rabbi Shemuel ben Moshe de Medina (1505-1589) was Rosh HaYeshiva of the Thessaloniki yeshiva which produced some of the most important scholars and halakhic decisors of the 16th and 17th centuries. In addition, he also served as the Av Beit Din, and in this role he was known for his humility and scholarship. Viewed as a leading halakhic authority of his time, he was the recipient of halakhic inquiries from Italy and the entire Balkan region. His collection of responsa, Piske HaRashdam, includes nearly a thousand of his answers.

In this teshuva, he deals with the question of whether it is permissible for a Jew to use a non-kosher knife to slaughter animals for non-Jews. The questioner suggests that this is a problem of bal tashchit, the prohibition against wasting, since these animals could have been slaughtered with a kosher knife and therefore would have then been available to Jews as well. The Maharashdam rejects this claim because bal tashchit only applies when the specific act benefits no one (derekh haschata). In this case though other Jews cannot eat the meat being sold, the one who sells it still receives financial compensation by selling it to non-Jews.

However, the Maharashdam  finds another, more powerful Talmudic principle to address this question. It is forbidden to empty a cistern as long as others may need to use it. Based on this, he notes that it is still permitted for a Jew to slaughter the animals belonging to non-Jews if there is no way that they would give the meat to Jews. However, if there are Jews who might benefit from these animals had they been slaughtered in a kosher fashion then one should look to do so.

Tu B’shvat is the time contemporary Jews have chosen to consider the state of the natural world, and, as our news feeds constantly remind us, the state of the natural world is not good. Many of the ecological crises that the world faces stem from the perception that the earth itself is merely a resource to be used for human benefit. The principle introduced by the Maharashdam in this teshuva, however, invites us to consider the planet to be a cistern, a resource that can and must benefit all. Indiscriminately altering the nature of the planet itself, it’s atmosphere, available clean water, and biodiversity, is tantamount to emptying the cistern even when done for human benefit. Just as a cistern must be preserved to ensure its water is available to all, so too the same must be done with the earth. 

This year Tu B’shvat falls just a week after the presidential inauguration. Our new government has the opportunity to implement policy that will affect the environment for the foreseeable future. Ideally, the principle behind the Talmudic prohibition of emptying a cistern must be active in all levels of society, from national and international policy to the behaviors of individuals. If we all take this principle to heart, then there is good reason to hope for a better environmental future.