Recycling in Jewish Tradition
by Rabbi Binyomin Adilman
I would like to offer some source
material that could shed light on the subject of disposal of Yarhzeit
glasses.
The Gemarra (Berachot 39b)
discusses the law of Eiruv Chazteros, a rabbinic ordinance that enables
neighbors in an apartment building or a common courtyard to carry on Shabbos from one private dwelling to another
through the public domain. By way of setting aside a portion of bread on
behalf of all the neighbors, and making a specific declaration and
blessing, they are joined in common ownership and permitted to carry. The
Gemarra then asks, What is to be done with the bread? It answers, Ho-eal
v'easavead bay mitzvah, n'avead bay mitzvah achreasay (Since one mitzvah
was done with it, we should use it for another mitzvah). Namely, as one of
the challohs at the Shabbos meal. An interesting distinction that can be
made here is that this idea transcends the injunction not to waste, and
reveals that once an object has been used for a mitzvah it acquires a patent
holiness, a cholos kedushah which is proper to continue to draw upon.
For example, the lulav (willows
and myrtles that are waved on Sukkot) are put
away and later used for fueling the fire that burns the chametz (leavened
products) on Erev Pesach. The etrog from Sukkot
is poked full of cloves and used to make a fragrant pomander for the Havdalah service at the conclusion of Shabbat. The old worn tzitzit fringes, when replaced, are
used as bookmarks in chumashim, etc. Olive oil from the Land of Israel is
hung in the Sukkah as a representative of one of the seven species of the
land. It is then saved to use for lighting the Chanukah lights. In addition, a
small amount is squeezed out of the wicks, and is eaten six weeks later on Tu B'Shevat. A tallis is used for the chuppah at a Jewish wedding and then
becomes the prayer shawl for the husband. Sometimes a portion of the wine
over which the blessings are said during the marriage ceremony is saved and
used for the cup of blessing at the brit milah ceremony of that
same couple's son.
Here are three more examples, one
from a primary source, the second a minhag, and the third a minhag that
results from a halakhah.
-
In the Mishnah (Tractate
Sukkah 5:3) there is a description of Simchas Beis Hashoeva, a celebration
in which tall menorot (candelabras) were lit that illuminated every
courtyard in Jerusalem so much so that
a woman would have been able to see well enough by the light to sort her
wheat grains. The wicks for these flames were made from the worn out
garments of the cohanim (priests
who served in the Temple in
Jerusalem).
-
In several books from Hungarian
Rebbes, I learned that there is a minhag (custom) of using the leftover
challah to make a kugel for the following Shabbat.
-
The cup of blessing that was used
at the third Shabbat meal for Birchat HaMazon is may not be drunk until
after Havdalah. That cup of wine, therefore, becomes the cup over which
Havdalah is made.
Perhaps the most famous example of
recycling is the account of the "Great Act" of Rav Chiya,
recounted in the Gemarra (Baba Metziah 85b). The Gemarra bemoans the problem of Torah being
forgotten from the world. How did Rav Chiya respond? He planted flax,
harvested it, and fashioned from it ropes. He wove the ropes into nets to
use for trapping deer. He slaughtered the deer, giving the meat to poor
orphans, and tanned the hides to make parchment. He made scrolls from the
parchment and wrote on them the five books of the Bible, one on each of
five scrolls, as well as one order of Mishnah on each of six scrolls. He
went to a place where no one was teaching Torah and taught each of five
children one of the five books of the Bible, and each of six children one
of the six orders of the Mishnah. When the children had all become expert
in their sections, they taught one another until they were all expert in
the entire Chumash and Mishnah. These children then went on to become
teachers of others, and so on. In this way, Torah was not forgotten from
Yisrael.
Why did Rav Chiya do this? Each
step of the process, which he carried out according to the mitzvot
associated with it, infused his act with an ever-increasing degree of
holiness. Planting and harvesting entail their own mitzvot, as well as that
of giving gifts to the poor, including peah. The slaughter of the deer, was
accomplished through ritual slaughter, using a proper knife, after which
the meat was soaked and salted properly. The scrolls of the Torah must be
written in accordance with complex laws. With the cumulative kedushah (holiness) invested in
the scrolls from all of the mitzvot (commandments) that led up to their
creation, he created a mitzvah momentum that carried over into the actual
learning and insured the project's success. The same idea, incidentally,
underlies the treatment of Torah Scrolls, Tefillin, mezuzah parchments and
sacred books that are no longer usable. They are not thrown away, but
rather buried with respect that befits an item invested with kedushah.
After a person has finished his/her work in this world, the body that was
the instrument of so many mitzvot and the sanctuary for the holy Jewish
neshama (soul), is buried lovingly in the earth.
A similar idea is found in the
account of the Ten Plagues. The plagues of blood and lice were initiated
not by Moses, but by Aaron. Aaron hit the water of the Nile
River with his rod, turning it into blood and hit the dust of the earth,
bringing forth lice. For Moses to have done this would have been considered
disrespectful since the water protected him as an infant in the basket, and
the dust helped him when he buried the Egyptian taskmaster in it. Moses
had, so to speak, a debt of gratitude toward the dust and the water, a
consideration that applies even to the realm of the inanimate. From here,
Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Kotzk learned an important lesson: Whenever he
replaced a pair of shoes, he would carefully wrap the old worn-out pair in
newspaper and only afterwards dispose of them saying, "How can I
simply throw away these shoes that have served me so well?"
One last source to consider is the mishnah in Pirke
Avot (Ethics of the Fathers 4:2) in which Ben Azzai counsels us to adhere
to a simple mitzvah just as we would to a more serious one, since we do not
know the reward of a mitzvah. And furthermore, "Mitzvah gorreres
mitzvah... ve-s'char mitzvah mitzvah..." (One mitzvah leads to the
performance of another, and the reward of a mitzvah is the award of the
privilege of performing another mitzvah. From here we learn the value of
training oneself in the performance of mitzvot, since the more we do them,
the less we find obstacles in the way to prevent us. The end result is a
constant flow of mitzvah performance!
In light of this, I would propose
that the contributors who suggested means of mitzvah recycling were well
grounded in their approach. The idea of reusing the Yahrzeit glasses for
memorial candles is especially fitting, and those who would use them for
drinking glasses certainly have an important mitzvah at hand when they
thank the Creator with an appropriate blessing! Perhaps this could ease the
feelings of those who were concerned about ghoulishness. Each mitzvah
performed would be that much more infused with the kedushah of prior
mitzvot and encourage the one performing the mitzvah to become stronger in
the performance of mitzvot since "MITZVAH GORRERES MITZVAH."
Sources: Rabbi
Scheinerman's homepage
Rabbi Binyomin Adilman, Nishmas Chayim, Beis Midrash for Torah Learning and Jewish Spirituality, Yemin Moshe, Jerusalem |