Chapter 9 | Introduction – Sustainability as a Halachic Consideration

Aside from the obligations that it places upon man, sustainability also acts as a religious value and human need that one must consider. This especially applies to matters stated regarding the approach to the aspect of anticipated danger to humanity as a result of continued harm to the environment. If we define environmental conservation as communal pikuach nefesh, and according to many environmental scientists it indeed seems that this is the case, then we should seemingly say that factors of sustainability can displace any mitzvah in the Torah ¹. Even environmental damage which at first glance does not have immediate risk to life, such as a rise in air pollution or a change in weather conditions, can be considered pikuach nefesh that one must violate Shabbat for ². On the other hand, woe to us if we act like that jew in that famous joke, who experiences a storm on his ship that threatens to sink it, and he first rushes to throw his tefillin overboard.

The halachic authorities already established that when people themselves relate to a risk as worth taking to a certain degree, we do not grant it a halachic status of pikuach nefesh. Thus, for example, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach writes that when man does not run at all costs to get vaccinated at the earliest convenience, one should not permit getting vaccinated on Shabbat even if its rejection involves a certain degree of risk, thereby stating ‘God protects the fools’ ³. Anyhow, as long as humanity allows itself to pollute the world for trivial needs, one should not violate biblical prohibitions for the sake of environmental considerations. According to the Ritva, when a person chooses to abstain from an action that has an aspect of danger, even though the majority of the world does not enforce it and relies on ‘God protects the fools’, his choice has halachic status that allows displacing the fulfillment of mitzvot ⁴.

In addition, even if pikuach nefesh does not apply in its most stringent understanding, environmental factors can be considered a ‘need’ or ‘a situation of financial loss’. The foundation of the various permits that have been stated regarding the halacha of ‘due to financial loss’ is the principle: “the Torah had compassion for the money of Israel” ⁵. The source of this halacha is the guideline stipulated to Moshe: “and you shall give the congregation and their animals water to drink” ⁶, and from here the Sages learn that one should not only care for the lives of Jews but also their property ⁷. Because of this many halachic authorities write that when dealing with financial loss that will soon affect the greater public, one should consider it even if every person’s loss will be minimal ⁸.

There is extra importance to the matter when dealing with one who harms the health or wellbeing of others for the sake of beautification of a mitzvah. When any action involves violating the law or causing unlawful harm to others, this is a mitzvah that arises through sin, and one should avoid it at all costs ⁹. However, even when the action is permissible by law and according to halacha, the authorities write that it is appropriate in certain contexts to prioritize fulfilling an unbeautified mitzvah over fulfilling it with beautification involving harm to others ¹⁰. On the other hand, the halachic authorities write that for the fulfillment of mitzvot, one should at times permit damage to the environment, as the Sages have permitted opening schools of torah learning without considering the harm to the neighbors ¹¹. 

An additional factor that one must take into account is the aspect of Kiddush Hashem or, chalilah, the opposite. When Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg parsed through the issue of autopsy in the State of Israel, after presenting the factors of public pikuach nefesh that could permit the matter in its own right, he added the following words: “what will the many Israeli publics in the country say if word gets out that the state of medicine has considerably declined due to rabbinic prohibitions? And how shall we fulfill the Torah in the land if we prove that our Torah is the Torah of Life, and for this reason it is advisable to be lenient regarding the severity of the matter” ¹². Similar words have also been written by Rabbi Hedaya ¹³. If this issue is so unclear, all the more so for environmental issues that are visible to all, one should make an effort not to paint the picture as if, chalilah, Torah law acts as a stumbling block for environmental conservation ¹⁴. It is best to state here the words of the Sefer HaChinuch: “cleanliness is one of the most positive attributes… and it even involves praise for the nation, when the angels of the Gentile nations come to them and see their camps are holy and clean of all filth” ¹⁵.

In light of what has been stated, we will clarify in the following chapters how the environmental consideration can influence the halachic rulings regarding various practices ¹⁶. The specific topics that we will discuss are important in their own right, however primarily as an example of the possibility to turn a theoretical position into practical principles. This section draws from the understanding that as long as we are only dealing with general principles – we will remain at the level of speech, but it will have little practical effect. One of the most essential foundations of Judaism is halacha, in other words: the obligation to translate ideals into practical actions and statutes. This principle was stated already by Moshe Rabbeinu in the Torah: “and who is the great nation who has laws and statutes, whose righteousness is like all of this Torah that I present to you today” (Devarim 4:8), and this truly characterizes Judaism. The various halachic proposals act as an implementation of this principle and also guide us through a variety of other domains within the topic of sustainability. From the moment that environmental change impacts the world of practical halacha – then there truly will be genuine meaning to the Jewish position.

Even here we will present the various examples by relating to three spheres: the individual and personal sphere, the communal sphere, and the global sphere.

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