To Till and to Tend

I wish that I were creative enough to have created this term on my own, but alas, I must be honest, it was King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan. In catching up on my National Geographic magazines, I read an article entitled “Bhutan’s Enlightened Experiment,” and I think I had a little bit of enlightenment myself.

In the 1960’s, Bhutan began to open its borders and peered into the wonders and challenges of modernity and globalization. Proud of their Buddhist culture and simple ways, the Bhutanese sought an entry into modernity that included good health, education and infrastructure, while maintaining the beauty and serenity of the land. To accomplish this, the King stepped away from the normal quantifier of prosperity, net dollars earned called Gross National Product.

Instead, he chose to measure his country’s success by the four pillars Gross National Happiness: (1) sustainable development (2) environmental protection (3) cultural preservation and (4) good governance. Consequently, since 1982, Bhutan has reduced infant mortality rate by 75%, increased literacy rate by 600% and life expectancy by 23 years. Meanwhile, it appears that nothing has been lost: most of Bhutan remains virgin forest and Bhutanese culture, tradition and identity remain strong. Sustainable emersion, growth and perspective in its truest form.

While there is much to learn in the brilliance of others, we can also learn from that which already rolls off our tongues.

Jewish tradition doesn’t have the clarity of the four pillars of GNH, but we do have Torah. As we sing each time we read from the Torah as a community: “Eitz chayim he lamachazikim bah, vetomcheha me’ushar. Deracheha darchey noam, vechol netivoteha shalom.” It is a Tree of Life to them who hold fast to it, and all who embrace it will be enriched. Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths lead to peace.
- Proverbs 3:17-18

While I love my internship at COEJL, instead of asking my parents for money for the third time this week, I decided to get a minimum wage summer job at a personalized cookie shop. This franchised store bakes sugar cookies, designs them, and then makes them into themed baskets. Cute and colorful as they are that is not my purpose, my purpose (and the main theme of many bloggers before me) is Bal Tashchit, the Jewish law of do not waste nor destroy.

My soon to be rant is not about the lights that are left on, the unnecessary paper that is used to make the baskets “fluffy” or the air conditioner that makes the building way too cold – it’s about the cookies. Bal Tashchit and cookies? That doesn’t make sense. Who would ever want to waste a cookie? But being that these extremely overpriced cookies ($7.25 – each!) have been designed for and sitting out since Father’s Day there are no more takers. My second day on the job I watched 7 big, beautifully iced and decorated sugar cookies fall victim to the black hole of a hefty lined garbage can. I asked the girl I was working with that day “Do you guys really always throw away all these cookies?” She coolly responded “Yeah, no one is going to eat them – they’ve been sitting out for over a week.” I agreed, for if I were to spend $7.25 on a sugar cookie, I’d at least want it to be fresh. However, running through mind was the sound of my mother’s voice preaching that there are plenty of hungry people who would be more than happy to have those cookies.

The law of Bal Taschit has always surrounded food. It has evolved over time, but while it now encompasses the law of not wasting anything, a main stand for Jewish environmentalist, the original purpose was to protect all fruit bearing trees during a time of war (trees that failed to produce fruit were excluded from protection). “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 the 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” (Deuteronomy 20:19-20). A cookie may shrivel in comparison to the importance of a fruit baring tree – even though cookies taste better than most fruit and these do come on a stick – and the war we are currently in has little relation to the well being of America’s decorative cookie industry. So, the next time I go into work and they ask me to throw out yummy cookies, I promise that they’ll find their ways to awaiting stomachs.