Parshas Shoftim 5785
- Torah Tavlin
- Aug 29
- 2 min read
לא תשחית את עצה לנדח עליו גרזן כי ממנו תאכל ואתו לא תכרת כי האדם עץ השדה לבא מפניך במצור (כ-יט)
One of the more popular expressions children toss at each other - after the all-popular, “It’s geneiva” - is “That’s בל תשחית.” Even toddlers in the care of their respective moros are taught the concept of not throwing out food or other good things. Perhaps we can add some depth to this minhag Yisroel as the idiom goes, מנהג ישראל תורה.
R’ Chaim Mintz shlita quotes the Sefer Hachinuch and expounds on it beautifully. The Chinuch in mitzvah תקכ"ט explains the reasoning and gives a ta’am, flavor, to the above posuk and prohibition. He says that it inculcates within us the ideal to love the good and not to waste any of Hashem’s creations that can help us or others. This is the translation of the Chinuch: “And this is the path of anshei ma’aseh who love and promote peace and are happy with the good for others and strive to bring people closer to Torah. In fact, it bothers them to no end when anything is wasted.” R’ Chaim extrapolates the following machshava. The same way we’re obligated not to waste resources and must even attempt to bring others closer, in the same vein, we cannot waste our own strengths with which we’ve been gifted.
One of the most vital things we have is our intellect. It must be used for Torah u’Mitzvos. A person blessed with a good voice, a warm heart, a gifted orator, must use those talents positively. Chinuch is also an area we mustn’t waste. There are countless opportunities to educate the next generation and it’s בל תשחית if we don’t use them properly. This may just be the continuation of the posuk, "כי האדם עץ השדה". A person is like a tree and must constantly strive to make פירות, perfecting himself and others.
One more critical area is time; a precious commodity. The amount of time we all unfortunately waste is embarrassing.
As this critical time of year commences, let us all use it to cleave to and improve our avodas Hashem so that we don’t squander this period of אני לדודי ודודי לי.