DEUT181 Do not covet what belongs to your fellow Jew. One should not wonder, “How can the Torah forbid us to have covetous thoughts when we see beautiful, attractive things in the possession of our neighbors?” Such a question assumes that one has no power over one's thoughts. In truth, a person can stop himself from covetous desire and only fools and people stooped in sin think otherwise. It certainly is within our capability to control our thoughts and wishes so that we do not desire everything that we see. It is simply a matter of willpower. Just as we can come to want something, we just as easily can make ourselves not want it and completely divorce ourselves from thinking about it. Not one of our thoughts, fixed or fleeting, is hidden from Hashem. Accordingly, if we transgress His Will by thinking thoughts that He forbids, He punishes us. On the other hand, for those who love Him and turn all of their thoughts towards perfecting how they serve Him, He sets aside unlimited amounts of kindness. Nothing is better for a person than a virtuous and pure thought, for such is the beginning and end of every good deed. About this mitzvah, our sages teach (Mechilta, Parashas Yisro, chap. 20), “Physical desire leads to coveting, and coveting leads to theft.” Key concept is obvious, for distancing us from theft benefits everyone. As soon as one permits oneself to harbor covetous thoughts for something that belongs to his fellow Jew, he violates this prohibition. His punishment is great, for coveting leads to several types of woe, as received from prophecy about the incident involving Achav and Navos [1 Kings 20-22—AJL].

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DEUT184 See [[EXOD441]] Exodus 20:13 adultery DORFF-RUTTENBERG 20-1

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DEUT183 See [[DEUT205]] Deuteronomy 6:5 heart DUTIES 13-15

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DEUT182 In this blending of creed and deed is the genius of Judaism seen at its best. To take one example. What other Statute-Book, ancient or modern, has tabled such a law as "Thou shall not covet", (Exodus xx:14, [this verse]), implying that one can wrong a neighbour in the heart no less than by bodily injury? [Continued at [[LEV391]] Leviticus 19:14 I LEHRMAN 317]

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DEUT186 It is a negative commandment not to crave in one’s heart something that belongs to his fellow-man as Scripture says, Neither shall you crave, etc. (D’varim 5:18). This prohibition is apart from the injunction, You shall not covet (Sh’moth 20:14). For a person transgresses the prohibition against craving once he thinks in his heart how he can acquire that object, and his heart is persuaded in the matter [to follow his plan]. Then he violates the injunction, Neither shall you crave, since craving is but in the heart alone. If he then acquires that object, having importuned its owner and sent many friends to him, until he gets it, he violates also the injunction, You shall not covet.

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DEUT187 See [[EXOD474]] Exodus 20:14 covet GATES 217

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DEUT188 See [[EXOD488]] Exodus 20:14 everything SINAI1 192

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DEUT189 An example of the obligation to provide a pension for public sector workers in their old age or in those cases where they are totally disabled is to be found in the minute books of the community council of Poznan. Written in Eastern Europe, they contain the following decision, from the year of 1636: “Seeing as how our teacher, our master, Rabbi Shimon Zusshinder, has sat faithfully in judgment here in our community for many years, and now, due to failing eyesight and age, is no longer able to fulfill this task, it is fitting that the community should see that he is provided for in an honorable fashion.” Pinkas Kehilat Poznan, Regulation 189. The basis for such a decision is, again, to be found in the biblical injunction “And thou shalt do that which is righteous and good” (Deuteronomy 5:18); it is an act of kindness rather than a legal obligation.

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DEUT190 The practice of separating sexual lust from other types of lust is reflected in the Bible. The original version of the Decalogue outlawed covetousness of sex and property in a single prohibition [this verse]. The Deuteronomic version of the Decalogue prohibits the two types of lust in two separate injunctions (this verse). Despite the strictness of the Jewish moral code, the ancient rabbis evinced a sympathetic understanding of the inordinate effort frequently entailed in man's resistance to sexual temptation. They were impressed by the fact that even the Bible made a concession to man's powerful sex drive in a situation where an absolute prohibition would only provoke defiance. The law regarding a heathen female captive of war, offering a psychological outlet for the sake of preserving the virtue of all parties involved, is a concession to human weakness (Deuteronomy 21:10-14, Kiddushin 21b).

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DEUT191 See [[DEUT1619]] Deuteronomy 30:19 choose SPERO 239

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