By Rebbetzin Lauren Levin
The power of the ten commandments lies in their humanness. We are created with tendencies to overwork, to rebel, to be overcome by anger, and to feel entitled. The ‘magna carta’ of civilization – the Ten Commandments – presents an antidote to this. It acknowledges our very real inclinations but teaches us that we can rise above them.
In a world of instant gratification, social media and consumer society the tenth commandment of ‘do not covet’ is perhaps more challenging than ever before. We are constantly comparing to others either consciously or unconsciously. As social beings, learning from and comparing to others is an important component that fuels our ambition to achieve. At what point does it shift from being a healthy driver of human aspiration to morphing into pure envy? Perhaps what may appear as the least important of the ten commandments is in fact the root to them all.
Excerpt from my grandfather Rabbi Maurice Lew’s sermons, 27th January 1951:
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house: you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox or donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s.”
The 10th commandment is in a way, the most important of all the commandments, if one can differentiate between the commandments. It contains within its simple words, a wealth of warning which we must not fail to grasp. This command cautions us against the deadliest of sins which is at the root of most of the evil to which humanity is subject.
We are living in times, when mankind is struggling in a world full of perplexity and gloom and is very anxiously seeking a way out of the maze which seems to envelop us. So often we ask ourselves what is the root cause of all the problems? Why all the economic troubles in the world, followed by fear of war, and actual war, and then economic troubles again, and again fear of war or actual war.
It seems that the answer will be found in the great difficulty we have in obeying this 10th commandment. The other sins against which we are warned are for the most part sins that can be detected by the eyes of our neighbours. Any breaking of the laws which protect life and property can be speedily recognized…
If a man is an idolator, a blasphemer, an ingrate, a murderer, a thief, an adulterer, or a scandalmonger – he cannot for long escape public knowledge of his sins. People begin to know such men, and take precautions against them.
Envy, covetousness, lust, desire that is unlawful, expressed in the 10th commandment, they hold sway and man is too weak to free himself from its domination. It is a deadly sin which is perpetrated in secret, and is more insidious in its effect. This sin accompanies men for a lifetime and he is in continual bondage to it while it degrades him lower and lower, the sin remains invisible.
In the Talmud, R’Elazar Hakapar was quite explicit when he said: “envy, desire, and false ambition drives a man out of the world “. These things, the Rabbi means, break the ties which should unite a man to his fellow man, they destroy his life as a human being.
The simple meaning of this commandment suggests greed, and unlawful desire for something which our neighbour has. To obtain this, man is sometimes prepared to go any length and in the process of gratification he will override the other laws. The Bible gives a number of examples to show how coveting may involve the victim in a chain of sins.
Ahab and Jezebel, the king and queen of Israel, coveted Mabet’s vineyard with disastrous effects. David the great king of Israel coveted the wife of the Hittite and instigated murder to gain his ends. We read often of such warning examples of this type of sin, but we have not eradicated envy from our natures.
There is a confusion in the minds of men between lawful ambitions and greed and it requires a strong nature to distinguish between the two. Eight of the 10 Commandments are appeals to the individual to use the faculties which he has been given to keep away from various forms of evil and to hold in check passions and desires that may gain the upper hand over him.
The last commandment is the culminating appeal to mankind to restrain unlawful desire, lest he become accustomed to covet and to envy others which leads to sin. The commandment does not suggest that we are to remain satisfied with a lot for all time and to throw away ambition or to reject opportunities for advancement. Desire is not a wrong thing in itself.
It is wrong when we desire things which are unworthy of us or when it throws us off our balance and gives us a one side view of life when nothing seems important but the acquisition of wealth or successful individual gratification. When desire so absorbs us that we are prepared to ignore the needs of others and pursue a life in which self sounds first and last. When desire becomes such an obsession that we cannot stand failure and we sink to hatred and discontent. When we are fretful and imagine ourselves injured because others have what we seek we pursue a race in life chasing after and not caring upon how many people we trample in that race and how much we transgress. Such desire, such ambition is dangerous.
Such forms of desire tend to kill the Divine in man and bring him to the level of the beast. Such envy and craving and lust which ignore God and make life but a struggle between man and man and consequently between nation and nation. Such conditions turn the world from a paradise which it can be into chaos which it unfortunately is…
The world of ours is so rich, so full of interests, so plentiful to provide for all. May we not so attempt to mould our characters to make it such? The character of the individual will then be reflected in the nation at large. The life of God’s laws amongst individuals will then be reflected in the life between nations, and the world will become, what God has meant it to be, a home of happiness for all His children.
Today’s world:
The same word is used to describe the Israelites at the sea and at Mount Sinai. The verb used is ‘lehitxatzek, meaning to ‘stand by. At these great moments of salvation and revelation, are we being told that the people were just passive? ‘behitvetzex’ does not mean to be a bystander; indeed, another word is used for this and it always has a negative connotation.
‘Lehitvatzer,’ is reflexive; it is an active standing by that was the requisite preparation for salvation and revelation. In our fast-paced society, many of us find the act of ‘standing by,’ of understanding, loving and believing in our true-selves, flaws and all, excruciatingly difficult. It is easier to scroll through the mirage of someone else’s glossy life, and spend energy coveting that for ourselves. But it will not help us in our quest for meaning. For this, we need authenticity – being true to ourselves so we can become vessels for spirituality and transcendence.