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Cutting down fruit trees

The Rav Name: Rabbi Yitzchak Arad
  • Question

Recently a property i work at was acquired by Jewish owners. There is some concern about cutting any fruit trees down on the property. I have tried to look around online to see if there were any exceptions to the rule of not cutting them down, however the answers seem vary. I wish to respect your laws and was hoping you could help me understand this better. Are there acceptable conditions where we may remove the fruit trees? Thank you

  • Answer

  • Cutting down fruit treesShalom and thank you for your question. You are rightfully concerned about the question of permissibility in Jewish law, (Halacha,) regarding the cutting down of fruit trees, and wish to know if there are any extenuating circumstances under which the act is permissible.In Deuteronomy 20:19 it states “You shall not destroy her tree”. This statement comes under the category of a negative commandment (or mitzvah,) meaning a commandment expressed in a manner of G-d’s telling the Jewish people what not to do, as opposed to a positive commandment, where G-d says what should be done. This prohibition comes to tell us not to cut down a tree that bears edible fruit in a manner that destroys it. However, it is permissible to uproot it in order to rectify a situation where the said tree may be causing damage to another tree (or more) which is considered to be of better quality, or in a case where the place of the tree is needed for other uses. Moreover, if the tree bears only a neglible amount of fruit which doesn’t justify the effort of maintaining it, it is permissible to uproot it. This is especially true if it is being removed in order to plant a younger tree in its place.

    If the owner of the tree is not involved in agriculture for his income, but simply has raised the tree on his property for beauty, it is desirable that he should sell the tree to a non-Jew who would then be the one to uproot it, since the non-Jew is not obligated to perform all of the same commandments as a Jew. (There are Seven Noahide Laws that are enumerated in the Torah which are relevant to non-Jews. These include prohibitions against murder and idol worship, setting up courts of justice, and more.) This sale should be a legal sale for money.

    It is permissible to uproot a fruit tree in order to build a dwelling place or in order to enlarge the area of an existing synagogue or Jewish ritual bath-house (mikvah.)

    There are Halachic authorities that hold a strict view according to which uprooting fruit trees is permissible only in a situation where the family living on the property has grown and needs more space, but not merely for extension which is not really needed for functional purposes, such as changing the landscape of the garden.

    From your question it is not clear what the intended purpose is of the property that was purchased by a Jewish person or group. If the purpose is a commercial one such as building an apartment building or an office building on the property, it is still
    permissible to uproot the tree.

    And with God’s help we will reach the time of the end of days when even the simple trees will bear fruit, and there will already be good and abundance in the world, the world will be in a different place, much better than it is today.
    As the prophet says, that even “idle trees will bear fruit”, which means that the trees that do not bear any fruit today, will also bear fruit and there will be good and abundance in the world.
    There will be a desire for us to win it right away and right away.
    And of course, all of this depends on our good deeds, the better we become than we are today, the more beneficial and influential we become to the environment.
    We hope this has been helpful!
    In any case, with any question, we will be happy to be at your service, and give the appropriate answer.

  • Good news in all matters


Sources

DAAT CENTER - JUDAISM IN THE LIGHT OF KABALA AND CHASSIDUS

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