From the Battlefield to the Dining Table: Axe & Fork

What does it mean to treat trees, food, and our bodies as sacred resources?

(יט) כִּֽי־תָצ֣וּר אֶל־עִיר֩ יָמִ֨ים רַבִּ֜ים לְֽהִלָּחֵ֧ם עָלֶ֣יהָ לְתׇפְשָׂ֗הּ לֹֽא־תַשְׁחִ֤ית אֶת־עֵצָהּ֙ לִנְדֹּ֤חַ עָלָיו֙ גַּרְזֶ֔ן כִּ֚י מִמֶּ֣נּוּ תֹאכֵ֔ל וְאֹת֖וֹ לֹ֣א תִכְרֹ֑ת כִּ֤י הָֽאָדָם֙ עֵ֣ץ הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה לָבֹ֥א מִפָּנֶ֖יךָ בַּמָּצֽוֹר׃

Deuteronomy 20:19

(19) 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?

This law appears in the context of rules of warfare. It tells the Israelites: even during a siege, you may not destroy fruit trees. You can eat their produce, but don’t cut them down.

. Be Careful Not to Waste Food — And Don’t Harm Your Body

פניני הלכה, ברכות י״ג:ג׳:ד׳

(ד) אדם שלוקח מאכלים לצלחתו, צריך להיזהר שלא לקחת יותר מדי, שמא לא יוכל לסיים את אכילתם, ונמצא שיגרום להשחתת המאכלים שיישארו בצלחתו. אולם אם לקח יותר מדי והוא חש שהוא כבר שבע, אין מצווה ואף לא מידת חסידות שיסיים את האוכל שבצלחתו. מפני שהאכילה היתירה מזיקה לבריאות, ויותר חשוב להקפיד על 'בל תשחית' של הגוף ובריאותו מאשר לחשוש ל'בל תשחית' של המאכלים שייזרקו (שבת קמ, ב; וראו להלן הלכה ט, ופנה"ל כשרות יג, י).

Peninei Halakhah, Berakhot 13:3:4

(4) A person taking food onto his plate needs to be careful not to take too much, lest he cannot finish eating it, and it would come out that he would be causing the waste of the food that remains on his plate. However, if he did take too much and feels that he is already satiated, there is no commandment, nor even an act of piety, for him to finish the food on his plate, since the extra food harms his health. And it is more important to be exacting about not wasting [bal tashcit] the body and his health than not wasting the food that will be thrown out (Shabbat 140b; and see Peninei Halakhah, Kashrut 13:10).

Shared Principle: Bal Tashchit — Do Not Destroy Needlessly

In Deuteronomy 20:19, the Torah prohibits cutting down fruit trees even during the extreme circumstance of war. This law teaches restraint in the face of power, and the idea that resources which sustain life — like fruit trees — must be preserved.
In Peninei Halakhah, this principle is extended to food at the table:

Don’t waste food by taking more than you need. But if you do take too much and you’re already full, you are not obligated — and it’s not even considered pious — to continue eating just to avoid waste. Why? Because continuing to eat beyond what your body needs can be harmful to your health, and preserving your well-being takes precedence over avoiding food waste. In this view, bal tashchit applies not just to the food, but to your body as well.

✨ Prompt:
What links do you see between the prohibition of cutting down trees in war and the rabbinic caution about food waste and eating more than your body needs?

Hierarchy of Values:
Preservation of Health > Avoiding Waste
The fruit trees are spared because they are life-giving — destroying them would be a loss not just of property, but of future nourishment.

This rabbinic teaching on food waste makes a critical distinction: while wasting food is wrong, damaging your own health (i.e., your body) is an even greater form of waste. If you’ve taken too much food, eating it just to avoid waste may actually violate a deeper application of bal tashchit — harming your body, which is also a divine creation.

✨ Prompt:
The Torah protects trees in wartime. Could the Rabbis be extending that ethic — saying that our own bodies deserve the same restraint and care? What implications might that have today?

Restraint in the Face of Power
Both of these Jewish teachings — one from the battlefield and one from the dining table — are about holding back even when you can take more. In wartime, a commander has power to destroy everything in sight — but the Torah says: No. Leave the fruit trees. At the table, you have the freedom to keep eating — but this Rabbi says: Stop. Don’t harm yourself.

✨ Prompt:
Both teachings ask: what does it mean to have power and choose not to use it? To be mindful, disciplined, and life-preserving, even when no one would stop you otherwise