Bal tashchit

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Bal tashchit (Hebrew: בַּל תַּשְׁחִית, lit. 'do not destroy') is an ethical principle in Jewish law (Halakha). The principle is derived from a law revealed by God to Moses recorded in Deuteronomy 20:19–20: When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding the ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down. Are trees of the field human to withdraw before you into the besieged city? Only trees that you know do not yield food may be destroyed; you may cut them down for constructing siegeworks against the city that is waging war on you, until it has been reduced. In the Hebrew Bible, the command is given in the context of wartime and forbids cutting down fruit trees to assist in a siege. In early Rabbinic law, however, the bal tashchit principle is understood to include other forms of senseless damage or waste. For instance, the Babylonian Talmud applies the principle to prevent the wasting of lamp oil, the tearing of clothing, the chopping up of furniture for firewood, or the killing of animals. In his explanation of this law, the Chinuch (Mitzvah 529) writes that "it is the practice of very righteous people not to waste anything, even a grain of mustard". The logic behind this principle is that if even in a time of war one could not destroy fruit trees, all the more so should one not destroy or waste anything under normal circumstances. The Talmud even goes so far as to state that "...one who tears his clothes or breaks his vessels or scatters his money in anger should be considered like an idol worshipper (see b.Shabbat 105b; cf. also, b.Shabbat...