(19) When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an axe against them; for thou mayest eat of them, but thou shalt not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of thee? (20) Only the trees of which thou knowest that they are not trees for food, them thou mayest destroy and cut down, that thou mayest build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it fall.
(19) I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your off-spring.
(4) One generation goes, and another generation comes, and the earth remains forever.
אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל כל הנהנה מן העוה"ז בלא ברכה כאילו נהנה מקדשי שמים שנא' ... (תהלים כד, א) לה' הארץ ומלואה ר' לוי רמי כתיב לה' הארץ ומלואה וכתיב (תהלים קטו, טז) השמים שמים לה' והארץ נתן לבני אדם לא קשיא כאן קודם ברכה כאן לאחר ברכה א"ר חנינא בר פפא כל הנהנה מן העוה"ז בלא ברכה כאילו גוזל להקב"ה וכנסת ישראל שנא' (משלי כח, כד) גוזל אביו ואמו
Babylonian Talmud, Brachot 35a-b
Rab Judah said in the name of Samuel: To enjoy anything of this world without a blessing is like making personal use of things consecrated to Heaven (meilah), since it says. ‘The earth is the Lord's and everything in it.’ (Ps. 24) …R. Hanina b. Papa said: To enjoy this world without a blessing is like robbing the Holy One, blessed be He, and the community of Israel.
יומא חד הוה אזל באורחא חזייה לההוא גברא דהוה נטע חרובא אמר ליה האי עד כמה שנין טעין אמר ליה עד שבעין שנין אמר ליה פשיטא לך דחיית שבעין שנין אמר ליה האי [גברא] עלמא בחרובא אשכחתיה כי היכי דשתלי לי אבהתי שתלי נמי לבראי יתיב קא כריך ריפתא אתא ליה שינתא נים אהדרא ליה משוניתא איכסי מעינא ונים שבעין שנין כי קם חזייה לההוא גברא דהוה קא מלקט מינייהו אמר ליה את הוא דשתלתיה א"ל בר בריה אנא אמר ליה שמע מינה דניימי שבעין שנין
One day, [Honi] was walking along the way and he saw a man who was going to plant a carob tree. He said to him, how many years until it will bear fruit? He answered: 70 years. He asked, is it so clear to you that you will be alive in 70 years? He answered: I found this world complete with carob trees that my ancestors planted. So too I will plant some for my children. [Honi] sat to rest, and slept for 70 years. He saw the same man collecting carobs. he said, "Are you the one who planted this?" He answered: I am his son's son. [Honi] said "I must have slept for 70 years!...
נפט - כשמגלין אותו האור הולך ונמשך אליו ומבעיר.
Rav Zutra says, One who covers an oil lamp, or uncovers a naphtha lamp has violated ba'al taschit [the Torah's prohibition on wasteful or pointless destruction of property or resources].
Rashi: doing either of these things causes the oil or naptha to burn faster and therefore uses up more fuel than is necessary to achieve your purpose (keeping the lights on.) It wastes energy, and according to Rav Zutra, that's ba'al taschit.
אִם הָיְתָה נְטִיעָה בְּתוֹךְ יָדָךְ וְיֹאמְרוּ לָּךְ "הֲרֵי לָךְ הַמָּשִׁיחַ", בּוֹא וּנְטַע אֶת הַנְטִיעָה וְאַחַר כָּךְ צֵא וְהַקְבִּילוֹ.
Avot de Rabbi Natan 31
Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakai used to say: "If you have a sapling in your hand and they tell you 'The Messiah is coming!' first plant the sapling and then go to greet him."
[From a Jewish perspective] The earth is [a person’s] sister rather than his mother. Man and earth are equally the creations of God...To think of God, man must hear the world. Man is not alone in celebrating God. To praise Him is to join all things in their song to Him.
Moderns too often pose the wrong questions to religion. They ask what Judaism says about the “environmental crisis” and “nature”...Rather, Judaism’s ecological message emerges when we observe what is sacred in Judaism. How are we to treat what is holy? And what is humanity’s place amid the holiness? The Jewish understanding that the earth belongs to God attests to the fact that the earth and everything in it is holy, and this concept of holiness, kedushah, is the beginning of a unique Jewish environmental ethic.
אמר להם: אידין מתקרי חכים? אמרו ליה: איזהו חכם - הרואה את הנולד.
“Who is called a 'wise man'?” [The sages] responded to him, “The person who sees the consequence of their action.”
Grant me the ability to be alone;
may it be my custom to go outdoors each day
among the trees and grass - among all growing things
and there may I be alone, and enter into prayer,
to talk with the One to whom I belong.
May I express there everything in my heart,
and may all the foliage of the field -
all grasses, trees, and plants -
awake at my coming,
to send the powers of their life into the words of my prayer
so that my prayer and speech are made whole
through the life and spirit of all growing things,