Many shailos arise in the days between Purim and Pesach regarding the issur of bal tashchis, both about all the leftover mishloach monos people receive and cannot finish and about discarding functional items during the spring-cleaning women often do [coinciding with the busiest time of the year..] before Pesach. Thus, we saw a need to clarify these halochos.
Cutting down a Fruit Tree
1. The source for the issur of bal tashchis is in the context of cutting down a fruit tree: "לא תשחית את עצה לנדח עליו גרזן כי ממנו תאכל ואתו לא תכרת כי האדם עץ השדה " (פ' שופטים כ', י"ט ). Hence, it is ossur deoraiso to cut down a fruit tree (רמב"ם פ"ו מלכים ה"ח ). The halochos about cutting down trees are broad in scope, and people are also very careful not to do so to avoid harm in keeping with Rebbi Yehudoh Hachossid's instructions. We elaborated on these halochos elsewhere (Gilyon 272).
Other Items
2. In addition to the issur to cut down fruit trees, one may not destroy anything useful. Thus, there is an issur of bal tashchis to destroy vessels, tear clothes, raze a building, stop up a well, or ruin anything else (רמבם פ"ו מלכים ה"י, שו"ע הרב הל' שמירת הגוף והנפש סי"ד ).
3. Deoraiso or derabonon? Some poskim say the issur to ruin any item is also deoraiso (משמעות הרמב"ם שם והרבה אחרונים בדעתו, שו"ת חת"ס חו"מ סי' כ"ז, דבר אברהם סי' ט"ז בהג'), but without the punishment of malkus since it is a lav shebiklalos (אחרונים ).
4. Others say the issur deoraiso is only to cut down a tree, but ruining other things is derabonon (נודב"י מה"ת יו"ד סי' י' בדעת הרמב"ם, משל"מ פ"ו מלכים ה"י ).
5. The issur of bal tashchis only applies to items useful to people. There is no issur to destroy things such as wild animals or plant life that people do not benefit from whatsoever (שו"ע הרב הל' שמירת הגוה"נ סי"ד ).
Food and Drink
6. If the Torah warns us not to destroy a fruit tree (above, 1), kal vochomer we may not destroy actual fruit (ספ רי סוף פ' שופטים ). All poskim agree the issur to destroy fruit – as well as any food or drink – is deoraiso (קונ' כבוד מלכים דף ה' ע"א, אורח מישרים סי' כ"ט סק"ד ).
