By: Ariella Cohen

 Ariella Cohen is a student at Stern College for Women and Canfei Nesharim's spring intern.

 

What is our responsibility regarding pollution? When we drive, smoke, litter, or otherwise pollute our air and water, what is the Torah view? In Judaism and the Quality of the Environment, Rabbi Aryeh Carmel describes pollution as a "moral problem," reflective of a selfish attitude. A person who pollutes is saying that he does not care about the effects his actions will have on others so long as it is convenient for him.

Rabbi Carmel brings a Talmudic parallel to relay his point. A hassid saw a man moving stones from his field to a publicly owned place. The hassid asked, "Why are you moving stones from a place that does not belong to you into a place that does belong to you"? The man scoffed at the hassid, but ultimately recognized the truth in the hassid's words when he had to sell his field and was forced to live in the publicly owned streets.

       
In the same way, polluting shows the misguided view that degrading the publicly owned air and water will not affect one's own health. Unfortunately, our own pollution often comes back to haunt us in our air, water, and land resources, which are critical to the food and water we need to live.

       
Today there are many environmental regulations that allow us to maintain our air quality, efficiently dispose of sewage and create zoning laws. Many people regard these environmental laws as a modern phenomenon. However, long before these laws were enacted the Torah had already laid down its views on the matter, preventing pollution and its effect on human health.

       
In its teachings, the Talmud shows its concern for human health through in its elaboration of the necessary components of a city in which a Torah scholar is permitted to live. Sanhedrin 17 B identifies ten things that are required for a city to be fit for a Torah scholar. Among these ten things are sewage disposal systems, essential for public health by preventing water pollution.

      
In another halachic example of water pollution prevention, the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 155:21) states that a person must distance his outhouse from his neighbor's drinking well so that it is clear that the liquid from the outhouse is not reaching the well. The Rama adds in his gloss there: And some authorities disagree and maintain that one must distance one's outhouse as far as necessary to avoid damage, even if the public road separates the two houses.