BIODIVERSITY

Each After Their Own Kind:
A Jewish Celebration Of Biological Diversity [Excerpt]

by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Biodiversity in Jewish Narrative: Creation & The Flood

While halakhah (Jewish law) implements Jewish values and commitments in practice, aggadah (Jewish narrative) provides the context for generating and articulating those same values. To understand biodiversity within the world of Torah, one must look to biblical/rabbinic tradition and to its grand, sweeping stories of what creation means. I refer specifically to the Beginning, at the opening of the Book of Genesis, and to the great modification and re/creation that was the Flood.

Several features of the creation story inform a Jewish understanding of biodiversity. The first is the emphatic repetition of le-minehu (its own kind): "God said: Let the earth sprout forth with sprouting-growth, plants that seed forth seeds, fruit trees that yield fruit, after their kind (le-minehu)... God saw that it was good." Again, "God created the great sea-serpents and all living things that crawl about, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind (le-minehem), and all winged fowl after their kind.

God saw that it was good. " "God made the wildlife of the earth after their kind (le-minah), and the herd-animals after their kind (le-minah), and all crawling things of the soil after their kind (le-minehu). God saw it was good."

The repetition of "its own kind" and the immediate judgment that these categories are good affirms the importance of the different species of living things. Each type of plant and animal contributes to the cumulative goodness of God's creation. The establishment of each new type brings divine satisfaction, a further embodiment of the divine will for life. Each new species adds something beneficial and necessary to the world. As the Psalmist notes, "How great Your works, ADONAI, in wisdom have You made them all."

The Sages note that the Torah's creation story teaches us to recognize that humanity does not have pride of place in creation; God does. Humans were not created first "so they should not grow proud-for one can say to them, 'The gnat came before you in the creation'!" The Sages compare the way God prepared the world for us to "a ruler who built a palace, dedicated it, prepared a meal, and only then invited the guests." Humanity is a guest in God's world: "The earth and its fullness belong to ADONAI." Creation, with all its diversity, reflects great wisdom and foresight. Those species are not ours to abuse or destroy, since they (and we) belong to the Holy One. Hence, a faithful reading of the creation story should enhance our sense of reverence for creation and our humility in the face of God's wondrous work.

Those same values-of humility and awe-emerge from the story of the Flood and Noah's ark. "The earth had gone to ruin before God, the earth was filled with wrongdoing. God saw the earth, and here: it had gone to ruin, for all flesh had ruined its way upon the earth." Here the Torah deliberately updates itself: God's act of creation is very good, but the chaotic abuse by humanity has ruined it! Our actions have ruined the earth not only for ourselves, but impose unwanted consequences on all living creatures: "all the residents of the world are governed by one and the same destiny." In an attempt to restore creation, God resolves to send a flood, and instructs Noah, "a righteous, wholehearted man" to construct an ark: "From all (ritually) pure animals you are to take seven and seven (each), a male and his mate, and from all the animals that are not pure, two (each), a male and his mate, and also from the fowl of the heavens, seven and seven (each), male and female, to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth."

Such a command can only make sense if the survival of each and every species matters. Indeed, rabbinic tradition expresses that value through a midrash in which the dove chastises Noah for endangering the survival of doves as a species: "You must hate me, for you did not choose from the species of which there are seven [in the ark], but from the species of which there are only two. If the power of the sun or the power of cold overwhelmed me, would not the world be lacking a species?" The story of Noah's ark powerfully affirms the value of each existent species, and highlights the role of humanity as God's partner in the preservation of biodiversity, despite our ability to threaten that same variety.

Biodiversity in Halakhah (Jewish Law)

The value of biodiversity that undergirds two of the foundational stories of the Bible also finds repeated expression in the application of halakhah (Jewish law). Just as the mitzvot (commandments) generally concretize the values of aggadah, here too, Jewish law expresses the importance of diversity through the pedagogy of mandated action. The mitzvot symbolize and implement our most sacred commitments as Jews. Rabbinic tradition understands the mitzvot that follow as reminders of the value of maintaining species diversity and as an agenda for actually preserving them.

Kilayim: This category of Jewish law prohibits mixing diverse species together. It covers six kinds of mixed species: mixed seeds, grafting trees, seeds in a vineyard, cross-breeding animals, pulling cattle, and mixing linen and wool in garments (shatnez). Kilayim is prohibited by halakhah as an unwarranted tampering with the categories established by God's creation. In a similar vein, the Jerusalem Talmud understands the biblical verse "My statutes you shall keep" as referring to "the statutes I have engraved in the world," in other words, the laws of nature. Creation comes from God, implying that the alteration of a natural law or the modification of a species constitutes an impermissible violation of creation. Ramban, the great medieval philosopher and sage, explains that "God has created in the world various species among all living things, both plants and moving creatures, and God gave them the power of reproduction, enabling them to exist forever as long as the Blessed God will desire the existence of the world." The prohibition of kilayim is an affirmation of species and diversity as they currently exist.

Sending the Mother Bird Away: The Torah records the insistence that one who gathers eggs from a nest must first shoo the mother away. While the Torah doesn't reveal a reason for this practice, medieval rabbis were emphatic in linking this mitzvah to the preservation of species: In the Sefer Ha-Hinnukh, we are told that "God's desire is for the endurance of God's species... for under the watchful care of the One who lives and endures forever... it [every species] will find enduring existence through God." Ramban speculates that "it may be that Scripture does not permit us to destroy a species altogether, although it permits slaughter [for food] within that group. Now, one who kills the dam and the young in one day, or takes them when they are free to fly, it is as though he cut off that species." Both of these authoritative rabbis understand this mitzvah as demonstrating the importance of maintaining each species of plant and animal. Jewish conduct must support the divine intention that each species thrive.

Slaughtering the Animal and its Young: Leviticus 22:28 prohibits slaughtering the mother ox or sheep and her young on the same day. As with the rule about releasing the mother bird, this law was understood in terms of assuring the continuation of existent species. In this area, Jewish thinkers articulate an explicit notion that providence extends over entire species. Just as environmental ethics values the species over the individual member of the species, Jewish thought insists that each species of animal has a "right" to exist that comes from, and is protected by, God. In the words of Sefer Ha-Hinnukh, "One should reflect that the watchful care of the Blessed God extends to all the species of living creatures generally, and with God's providential concern for them they will endure permanently."

Kashrut: The Dietary Laws: While the dietary laws don't speak directly to the issue of biodiversity, they do express the Biblical emphasis on species as categories deserving attention and respect. In two separate lists, the Torah delineates categories of animals which may and may not be eaten. One thoughtful scholar has suggested that the categories of tahor (pure) and tamei (impure) actually tell us what part of creation is available for our use (what we call "pure") and what part not authorized for human benefit (what we call "impure"). That remarkable observation highlights that Judaism sees much of creation as existing for the satisfaction and self-expression of God, not humanity. Jews are not allowed to eat most animal species, and designating them as tamei reminds the observant Jew that the purpose of the world is not to please people. As the midrash notes, "It is not thanks to you that rain falls, or that the sun shines-it is thanks to the animals."

Each of these mitzvot direct Jews to demonstrate their reverence for creation as it is. Taken together, they form an essay in deeds on the subject of serving the Creator by maintaining the creation as we find it. If God made all these species deliberately, we can do no less than assist in their continuing vitality. If God's loving care extends over the range of living things, our love must be sufficiently strong to keep them alive-as a tribute to our Creator, as the best defense for our own survival, and as an abiding expression of our love of life.