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"Man's life depends on the trees of the field."Adapted from Deuteronomy 20:19

Poster design:George Tscherny

Commentary

by Erica Brown

On the surface, this biblical verse makes sense. We must nurture nature if for no other reason than our dependency upon it. If we do not take care of trees, we will not be able to enjoy their shade, their fruit or their beauty. If we are poor stewards of nature, it will not be around for future generations.

This verse, however, has an important contextual meaning. Chapter 20 of Deuteronomy describes the end of the ancient Israelites’ 40-year journey in the wilderness. Moses had to instruct them on what it would mean to be landowners. It would be thrilling, and it would come with great responsibilities.

The land of Israel also came with heartache in the form of war. And this chapter warns that in times of war, trees often become unfair casualties. Soldiers hide behind them or destroy them for fortification. War is a short-term problem, but trees are a long-term investment.

Some commentators even punctuate this verse with a question: “Is not a tree of the field like a human?” Do we not see in the form of a tree—the roots, trunk and fruit—the shape of a human being? We face a paradox. When at war, do not treat a tree like a mortal enemy. At the same time, remember that the tree is like a human being and needs protection and care. Sometimes, we must see the trees for the forest.

Conversation Guide

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Two different lessons were drawn out from this verse in the commentary: On the one hand, humankind must act responsibly toward trees/nature because our lives depend on them. At the same time, the trees/nature needs mankind to tend and protect them. Humankind and trees/nature are, thus, engaged in a mutual relationship: if we care for the earth and its resources, the earth will care and provide for us.

Can you think of current examples of the mutuality and partnership between mankind and earth?

How would you describe the major challenges in preserving nature, versus needing the resources of nature?

What are you personally inspired to contribute toward the mutual relationship between humankind and nature?

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Each image calls out to us to examine it, to note our thoughts and feelings, and relate these impressions to the quotation. Often clues in the artwork suggest meaning and invite interpretation.

Designer George Tscherny’s composition interprets the Deuteronomy verse with minimal but thought-provoking imagery.

How does the image present the quotation? Was this how you interpreted the quotation without the image?

Why do you think Tscherny chose a pear to depict this quotation? How would the effect be different had he used the image of a tree?

Why do you think the artist put a human face on the pear?

What emotions does this image evoke?

Please use this guide creatively in your programs. We’d also love to see what you’re doing and share it with others, so please post on our website using the Share button in The Exchange.

Credits

Harold Grinspoon Foundation, West Springfield, MA

Author

Adapted from Deuteronomy 20:19

In portion Shoftim of Deuteronomy

the fifth book of

the Torah

About

Deuteronomy is the fifth and final book of the Torah. In it Moses gives a farewell address before he dies and before the People of Israel enter the Land of Israel. Deuteronomy includes the familiar words of the Shma and V’Ahavta (from Jewish morning and evening prayers), a repetition of the Ten Commandments and many fundamental laws of social justice (“Pursue justice!”) and ritual observance (mezuzah, pilgrimage holidays, etc.).

The words “Man’s life depends on the trees of the field” appear in Deuteronomy 20:19, a passage about warfare:

When you are at war, making a prolonged siege upon a city in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees. You may eat from them, but you cannot chop them down. Man’s life depends on the trees of the field (or, Is not the tree of the field like a human?), and no tree can flee from you into the besieged city.

The passage advances a strong environmental awareness, just as others in the same chapter, such as Deuteronomy 20:5–7, seek to humanize aspects of warfare:

Then the officers will address the troops: “Is there anyone who has built a new house but has not yet dedicated it? That man should return home, before he dies in battle, and another man claims the house. Is there anyone who has planted a vineyard but has not yet harvested the grapes? That man should return home, before he dies in battle, and another man picks the grapes. Is there anyone who is engaged to be married, but has not yet become wed? That man should return home, before he dies in battle, and another man marries the woman.”

Links

Background on the Book of Deuteronomy

Media

A G-dcast animation of Torah portion (Shoftim) in Deuteronomy from which this quote is taken [NOTE: the quote appears at the very end of the portion]

Credits

Image Credit: Photograph of Torah scroll by James Steidl

Artist

George Tscherny

New York

Graphic designer

• • •

About

George Tscherny began his career as a designer with Donald Deskey Associates in 1950. He joined George Nelson & Associates as a graphic designer in 1953, becoming an associate and the head of the graphics department before leaving there in 1955 to open an independent design office.

Tscherny’s posters are represented in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art; the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; the Library of Congress; and the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Zurich. Over 100 posters and other examples of work are included in the archives of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. His work can also be found in the Graphic Design Archives at Rochester Institute of Technology, the Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives at the School of Visual Arts, and the electronic database of the Cooper Union School of Art.

Tscherny served two terms as president of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), and in 1988 the AIGA awarded him its annual medal “in recognition of distinguished achievements and contributions to the graphic arts.” In 1992 the Visual Arts Museum (NY) invited Tscherny to mount a one-man retrospective of his work in “The Masters Series: Honoring the great visual communicators of our time.” In 1997 Tscherny was inducted into the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame.

In 2007 Tscherny was given a retrospective of his work in the Galerie Blanche at Le Corbusier’s La Cité Radieuse in Briey, France.

“George Tscherny: Five Decades of Graphic Design” was published in 2003 by Southeast University Press, China. Tscherny is the author of Changing Faces (Princeton Architectural Press, 2005), and Where would the button be without the button hole? celebrating the work of anonymous designers, published by RIT Press in 2008.

George married his wife, Sonia, in 1950. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.

Links

Art Directors Club

Poster for MOMA

Graphic Design Archive at Rochester Institute of Technology

Design Culture interview

More design by George Tscherny

Media

Identity of School of Visual Art

Quote

"Man's life depends on the trees of the field."Adapted from Deuteronomy 20:19

Context

"When you besiege a city... you shall not destroy its [fruit] trees. You shall eat of them. Do not cut them down, for man's life depends on the trees of the field." (Deuteronomy 20:19) The Bible has considerable respect for the environment, particularly for trees... The biblical injunction outlawing gratuitous destruction of trees was eventually broadened to forbid all acts of gratuitous destruction. In the twelfth century Moses Maimonides ruled: "Not only one who cuts down fruit trees, but also one who [purposely and impulsively] smashes household goods, tears clothes, demolishes a building, stops up a spring, or destroys food, violates the [above] command 'You shall not destroy...'"

Source

Source of Quote: Telushkin, J. (1997) Biblical Literacy: The Most Important People, Events and Ideas of the Hebrew Bible. New York: William Morrow.

Hebrew

"כי האדם עץ השדה."

-דברים כ', י"ט

R.O. Blechman	Ivan Chermayeff	Seymour Chwast	Tom Geismar	Bob Gill	Milton Glaser
Carin Goldberg	Mervyn Kurlansky	Art Paul	Alan Peckolick	Michael Peters	Dan Reisinger
Paula Scher	Daniel Bennett Schwartz	Arnold Schwartzman	Henry Steiner	George Tscherny	Yarom Vardimon

Baal Shem Tov	Ben-Zoma, Pirke Avot 4:1	Louis Brandeis	Martin Buber	Benjamin Cardozo	Adapted from Deuteronomy 20:19
Deuteronomy Rabbah 1:10	Blu Greenberg	Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel	Rabbi Hillel (Pirke Avot 1:14)	Maimonides	Benjamin Mandelstamm
Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk	Rabbi Nachman of Breslau	Adapted from Song of Songs 8:6	Susan Sontag	Talmud, Taanit 23A	Rabbi Tarfon, Pirke Avot 2:21

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware."	"A community is too heavy to carry alone."	"From every human being there rises a light."
"The heroic hours of life do not announce their presence by drum and trumpet."	"A human being is like a letter of the alphabet: to produce a word, it must combine with another."	"I found a fruitful world, because my ancestors planted it for me. Likewise I am planting for my children."
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?"	"If you believe breaking is possible, believe fixing is possible."	"It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either."
"Love is stronger than death."	"Man's life depends on the trees of the field."	"A miracle cannot prove what is impossible. It only confirms what is possible."
"Most of the things worth doing in the world were declared impossible before they were done."	"Once I had tasted the fruit of the tree of knowledge, there was no going back. "	"Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech."
"There is nothing more whole than a broken heart."	"When I marched in Selma, I felt my legs were praying."	"Who is wise? One who learns from all people. Who is honored? One who honors everyone."

R.O. Blechman	Ivan Chermayeff	Seymour Chwast
Tom Geismar	Bob Gill	Milton Glaser
Carin Goldberg	Mervyn Kurlansky	Art Paul
Alan Peckolick	Michael Peters	Dan Reisinger
Paula Scher	Daniel Bennett Schwartz	Arnold Schwartzman
Henry Steiner	George Tscherny	Yarom Vardimon

Baal Shem Tov	Ben-Zoma, Pirke Avot 4:1	Louis Brandeis
Martin Buber	Benjamin Cardozo	Adapted from Deuteronomy 20:19
Deuteronomy Rabbah 1:10	Blu Greenberg	Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
Rabbi Hillel (Pirke Avot 1:14)	Maimonides	Benjamin Mandelstamm
Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk	Rabbi Nachman of Breslau	Adapted from Song of Songs 8:6
Susan Sontag	Talmud, Taanit 23A	Rabbi Tarfon, Pirke Avot 2:21

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