EXOD461 We must give up our lives rather than commit murder. Murder is one of the three cardinal transgressions for which a person must give up his life rather than commit (Yorah Daiah 157:1). … it is permissible to kill someone who is trying to kill you, but you have no right to take the life of an innocent person even if a third party threatens to kill you unless you do so.

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EXOD456 See [[EXOD483]] Exodus 20:14 covet SPERO 136

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EXOD466 Integrity means doing what one says, being what one speaks. It means being true to others, but also to oneself. Self-deception is a common human inclination; integrity is it antidote. … self-deception is a major roadblock in the creation of one's life as a work of art. Just as one is proscribed from deceiving others in word or deed, one is enjoined not to deceive one's own self. In this regard the Hasidic master, Bunam of Przysucha, was asked: Who is a hasid, who is pious? He answered: One who goes above the requirements of the law. The questioner asked: What is the law? The rabbi replied: It is forbidden to deceive one's neighbor. And what is going above the letter of the law? Not deceiving one's own self. Rabbi Bunam's disciple, Mendel of Kotsk, interpreted the commandment "You shall not steal" (this verse) as including a prohibition against stealing from one's own self. See Heshel, A Passion for Truth (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973). According to Isaac Aboab, the admonition against lying extends to self-deception. He wrote, "There are other matters that fall under the heading of falsehood; for example, when a person praises himself for having virtues he does not possess." Aboab, Isaac, Menorat Ma'or. (Jerusalem: Mosad ha-Rav Kook, 1961). sec. 2, p. 103.

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EXOD467 See [[LEV355]] Leviticus 19:13 defraud OXFORD 478-9

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EXOD463 Although wherever possible the evil inclination tries to lead men to sin, there are some [offenses] that human nature finds more desirable, and with regard to these his evil inclination grants him greater leeway to rationalize and permit [that which is forbidden]. Therefore, in these areas one needs to strengthen himself to an even greater degree in order to conquer his evil inclination and to be cleansed of sin. Our Sages of blessed memory have said (Chagigah 11b): "Man's nature yearns for and desires theft and promiscuity." We see that although most people are not outright thieves, in the sense of literally grabbing money that belongs to others and keeping it, nonetheless most of them develop a taste for stealing in their business dealings when they permit themselves to profit at the expense of others, saying: "Business is different." Regarding stealing, many prohibitions have been stated in reference to it: "You must not steal" [this verse], "Nor shall you rob" (Vayikra 19:13), "You shall not oppress" (ibid.), "Nor may any man [among you] make a false denial" (Vayikra 19:11), "Or lie against his fellowman" (ibid.), "You must not cheat one another" (Vayikra 25:14), "You must not move back the border of your fellowman['s field]" (Devarim 19:14). All of these are distinct laws that relate to stealing, and their scope covers many of the acts that are commonplace in business dealings and financial activity. And each one of them contains numerous prohibitions. Indeed, not only the familiar and common acts of extortion and theft are prohibited, but also whatever ultimately leads to them and causes them is included in the prohibition. In this regard, our Sages of blessed memory stated (Sanhedrin 8a): "'And he did not defile his neighbor's wife' (Yechezkel 18:6) [refers to someone] who did not encroach on his neighbor's livelihood." [On these grounds] Rabbi Yehudah prohibited a storekeeper from giving out roasted grains and nuts to children to attract them to his store, and though the Sages permitted this it was only because his competitors could do the same (Bava Metzia 60a).

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EXOD462 A published responsum dealing specifically with heart transplants is that of Rabbi Unterman [Unterman, I.Y., "Points of Halakhah in the Question of Heart Transplantation" (From an address to the Congress of Oral Law), Jerusalem, Elul, 5728 (August, 1968)] who begins by stating that consent from the family of the donor must be obtained. Otherwise, the doctors and the recipient would transgress the prohibition of "Thou shall not steal" [this verse and Deut. 5:17]. The Chief Rabbi then reviews the halakhic definition of death. He states that under ordinary circumstances, death occurs when respiration ceases. However, sudden unexplained death in young otherwise healthy individuals should be followed by resuscitative measures. A goses need not be resuscitated when respiration ceases. Rabbi Unterman then briefly mentions the problem of organ banks by stating that freezing organs for later use is allowed provided there is a good chance they will be used to save a life. Then, the situation would be comparable to having the recipient at hand (lefaneinu).

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EXOD464 In secular law, cases of stealing are classified as grand larceny or petty larceny, according to the value of the stolen goods. In the Torah's ethic, the prohibition "You shall not steal" [this verse] also forbids a theft called g'nevath da'ath (literally, "stealing someone's mind"), which means creating a false impression (Tosefta, Baba Kamma VII, 8). If, for example, you ask a shopkeeper for the price of something which you have no wish whatsoever to buy, you are also guilty of stealing, in a sense: For you create in the shopkeeper the false impression that you wish to buy the object in question; as a result, he treats you with a certain difference and esteem, and gives you information, to none of which you are entitled. You have "stolen" something intangible from him. (Continued at [[EXOD692]] Exodus 22:24 interest SINAI1 17)

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EXOD468 See [[LEV367]] Leviticus 19:13 robbery SPERO 305-6

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EXOD465 In the Ten Commandments, "You shall not steal" appears in the singular form and is understood by the sages to refer to the act of kidnapping and the selling of slaves. The injunction against stealing in its usual sense appears in the Bible in Leviticus [19:11] in the plural. Answering a Chasid's question as to this distinction, a Chasidic master replied, "Kidnapping of men for sale as slaves is a marginal act in our society, whereas common theft and fraud is something we are all too guilty of." No functioning economic society can exist for very long without a legal system to prevent fraud. It would be misleading, however, to consider the communal edicts, halakhic decisions, and homiletic literature against theft, in its widest connotations, as simply constituting Jewish interpretations of a universally accepted dictum. Rather, the majority of authorities (in contrast to Maimonides [Shmoneh Perakim, chapter 6], saw the prevention of theft or dishonesty as part of a distinctly Jewish socioreligious morality based on the notion of the Divine source of wealth. [Malbim, Commentary on the Bible, Exodus 20]. The Divine source of wealth makes all form of theft and dishonesty religious crimes, over and above their social aspects. Furthermore, society's concept of morality, economic and otherwise, are flexible, and change from one generation to another and one cultural group to another. However, forbidding stealing as part of a Divinely related law makes the injunction definitive and absolute, and provides a yardstick that cannot be blurred by conventionally accepted infringements.

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EXOD469 Stealing of souls [i.e., kidnapping] is being referred to; for as far as stealing of money is concerned, this is subsumed in (Leviticus 19:11): "You shall not steal" (Sanhedrin 86a)

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