The Ten Commandments, which were chosen by Hashem to be the first and the most prominently given of the 613 commandments of the Torah, embody the most basic principles of religious belief and of human civilization. Yet among them is a mitzva which many would be inclined to think is more of a desirable character trait than a foundation of human society \u2013 the last of the Ten Commandments which forbids coveting (Shemot 20:14).<\/p>\n
An additional enigma is that all of the other prohibitions are those which any civilized person recoils at. It is rare that a person even feels a serious temptation to murder or commit adultery, and any basically moral person who does fall into such a transgression is typically overcome by remorse. Coveting, by contrast, is something so natural that it seems to be a rare person who doesn\u2019t occasionally experience it.<\/p>\n
The Ibn Ezra\u2019s commentary explains this commandment in a way which resolves both difficulties. According to the Ibn Ezra, it is exactly because it is so difficult to avoid coveting something which is relevant to us that this mitzva is in effect commanding us in a principle of religious faith: to acknowledge that our neighbor\u2019s belongings and spouse are placed by the Almighty entirely beyond our sphere.<\/p>\n
The true commandment is to acknowledge Hashem\u2019s providence in allocating wealth and marriage partners. In fact, these are exactly the two areas which our Sages likened to the \u201csplitting of the Red Sea\u201d because of the special degree of Providence which they demonstrate (Pesachim 118a, Sotah 2a). With this acknowledgment, the Ibn Ezra explains, a person will find this mitzva easy to fulfill \u2013 just as a simple peasant doesn\u2019t long to marry a princess. But without this acknowledgment, the mitzva will be almost impossible.<\/p>\n
THE CHAIN OF PROVIDENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n We explained in last year\u2019s shiur on parshat Vayishlach, on the prohibition of stealing, that there are two dimensions to this providence: Hashem decides that the owner is either the ideal person to enjoy the benefit of a particular object or the ideal person to take responsibility for bringing it to its destiny in another way, for instance by selling it or giving it away.<\/p>\n Based on this idea, we can understand why the prohibition on coveting is transgressed when we pressure someone to sell personal possessions, even for their full value (SA CM 359:10). While this is not considered stealing, the element of duress in this pressure means that the seller is prevented from exercising the full degree of personal judgment regarding the disposition of his property. Yet this exercise of personal judgment is central to our concept of Divine providence in distributing wealth.<\/p>\n All mankind is certainly obligated to acknowledge Hashem\u2019s providence, and the Sefer HaChinuch explicitly writes that non-Jews too are forbidden to covet, just as they are forbidden to steal (Mitzva 416 on lo titaveh, the twin of lo tachmod). At the same time, some authorities have written that there are subtle differences in the mitzva as it applies among non-Jews. These differences can be explained by the different and complementary roles of Jews and non-Jews in the chain of providence, as we explained in last year\u2019s parshat Vayikra column, on the subject of returning lost objects.<\/p>\n COVETING TORAH<\/strong><\/p>\n The Zohar notes that only this mitzva among the Ten Commandments details the specific instances of the prohibition: your neighbor\u2019s house and field, etc. From this we infer that there is a kind of coveting which is permitted \u2013 coveting someone else\u2019s Torah knowledge (Zohar Yitro, II:93b). This teaches us that Torah knowledge is never beyond our sphere entirely. Regarding the \u201cprincess\u201d of Torah, all Jews are royal princes, and not simple peasants.<\/p>\n Rabbi Asher Meir is the author of the book Meaning in Mitzvot, distributed by Feldheim. The book provides insights into the inner meaning of our daily practices, following the order of the 221 chapters of the Kitzur Shulchan Arukh.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Ten Commandments, which were chosen by Hashem to be the first and the most prominently given of the 613 commandments of the Torah, embody the most basic principles of religious belief and of human civilization. Yet among them is a mitzva which many would be inclined to think is more of a desirable character<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":41572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth","category-torah","series-meaning-in-mitzvot"],"yoast_head":"\n
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