Musar su Esodo 20:13
לֹ֥֖א תִּֿרְצָֽ֖ח׃ (ס) לֹ֣֖א תִּֿנְאָֽ֑ף׃ (ס) לֹ֣֖א תִּֿגְנֹֽ֔ב׃ (ס) לֹֽא־תַעֲנֶ֥ה בְרֵעֲךָ֖ עֵ֥ד שָֽׁקֶר׃ (ס)
Non commettere omicidio. Non commettere adulterio. Non rubare. Non deporre contro al tuo prossimo testimonianza falsa.
Shaarei Teshuvah
And this is the thing about the group of liars - the content of this group is divided into nine sections:
The first section: The lying man that left the Torah and does evil and destroys with the response of his mouth - like one who contradicts his countryman about a deposit or a transfer or the wage of a wage-worker, as it is stated (Leviticus 19:11), “you shall not deal deceitfully or falsely, a man towards his countryman.” And likewise, one who bears false witness against his neighbor; and it is said (Exodus 20:13), “you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” And included in this section is deception and fraud in commerce and in partnerships; and it is stated (Leviticus 25:14), “you shall not cheat, one man, his brother.” And it is [also] stated (Psalms 55:12), “fraud and deceit never leave its square.” And he is called a man of iniquity and a ruffian; and he is the heaviest with iniquity from the groups of the evildoers, as we have discussed in the Gates of Fear of Sin (no longer extant). And the characteristics of this man of iniquity are that he winks his eyes and rolls his fingers, as it is written (Proverbs 6:12-13), “A ruffian individual, a man of iniquity, etc. Winking his eyes, etc.”
The first section: The lying man that left the Torah and does evil and destroys with the response of his mouth - like one who contradicts his countryman about a deposit or a transfer or the wage of a wage-worker, as it is stated (Leviticus 19:11), “you shall not deal deceitfully or falsely, a man towards his countryman.” And likewise, one who bears false witness against his neighbor; and it is said (Exodus 20:13), “you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” And included in this section is deception and fraud in commerce and in partnerships; and it is stated (Leviticus 25:14), “you shall not cheat, one man, his brother.” And it is [also] stated (Psalms 55:12), “fraud and deceit never leave its square.” And he is called a man of iniquity and a ruffian; and he is the heaviest with iniquity from the groups of the evildoers, as we have discussed in the Gates of Fear of Sin (no longer extant). And the characteristics of this man of iniquity are that he winks his eyes and rolls his fingers, as it is written (Proverbs 6:12-13), “A ruffian individual, a man of iniquity, etc. Winking his eyes, etc.”
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Mesilat Yesharim
Many negative commandments refer to theft such as "you shall not steal" (Shemot 20:13, "you shall not rob" Vayikra (19:13), "you shall not oppress" (ibid); "nor deny nor lie one to another" (Vayikra 19:11), "you shall not oppress one another" (Vayikra 25:14), "You shall not push back your neighbor's boundary" (Devarim 19:14). All these are divisions of the laws of theft which apply to many common business transactions and each one includes many prohibitions under it.
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Shenei Luchot HaBerit
לא תגנובו . Here (19,11) the Torah speaks about someone stealing money or other valuables, whereas in the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20,13 the Torah referred to the kidnapping of a person or persons. I find it puzzling why the Torah used the singular, i.e. לא תגנוב in Exodus, whereas in our portion the legislation is formulated in the plural, לא תגנובו. It is also puzzling why the Torah first legislated the prohibition against completely harvesting one's field. We may understand the sequence of "do not steal" as addressed to the multitude, not because so many people may be guilty of this sin, but because of what the sin leads to. Theft leads to denial of the theft, denial leads to other lies in order to cover up the theft; this is turn leads to perjury. Such behavior even if only by a single individual, will give the whole Jewish people a bad reputation because of the multiple sins involved. The Torah warns us against compounding a sin committed by denying it and even possibly confirming such denial by an oath.
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Shemirat HaLashon
And how fitting is the homily of our sages of blessed memory on the verse (Shemoth 32:16): "And the tablets [luchoth] are the work of G-d.": "'Luchoth' is written [without the vav] to show that they [the tablets] were both the same; that is, they looked like one tablet. For it is known that on one tablet, on the right, there were written those things between man and his Maker, and on the second tablet, that begins (Ibid. 20:13): "You shall not kill," "You shall not commit adultery," until the end of that tablet, there were written those things between man and his neighbor. That is, one should not think about any one of them that it is only superficial, to "beautify" a man. For this reason they are written in great proximity, to show that one is not superior to the other. And they also looked like one tablet, to intimate that just as one is considered a "man among men" only when he is whole in his limbs; but if he is missing any part of his body, he is lowered in the eyes of men and also in his own eyes, so is it with the soul. When is he the "complete man"? When all the words of the L-rd are beloved of him, which is not the case, G-d forbid, if he belittles any of the words of the L-rd, whether in the area of man and his Maker or in that of man and his neighbor. Then he is not a "man."
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Shenei Luchot HaBerit
לא תרצח לא תנאף לא תגנוב לא תענה לא תחמוד. These last five commandments are called תורת אדם. Israel is called אדם. This fact lies at the root of the concept of כנסת ישראל. This corresponds to the name א-ד-נ-י, the source of Israel as we explained earlier. These last five commandments, if violated, would blemish the Holy Name of G–d. The murderer definitely diminishes G–d's image, seeing that G–d had imparted His image to man when He created him in His image and His likeness. Man's G–d-given soul was already within the womb of his mother before he was born. This is what is called the מלכות שם א-ד-נ-י, the union between the two separate names of י-ה-ו-ה and א-ד-נ-י. The union between איש and אשה is parallel to the relationship between these two names of G–d we have just mentioned. The commandment not to steal refers to kidnapping of a human being. Doing this means uprooting the kidnapped person from his destiny as a human being, depriving him of the appellation that symbolises the purpose of his existence. Testifying falsely against a human being has the same detrimental effect upon that human being as the kidnapping of him. A human being created in G–d's image is reduced to something not worthy of that image by means of the testimony of the false witness.
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