Musar su Esodo 20:14

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house” (Exodus 20:17); “and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house” (Deuteronomy 5:18). We were warned with this not to make evil plots to take the field or vineyard or anything of (your) [our] fellow, even if one gives their price. And we were warned about the thought of this evil thing, that we should not resolve in our thoughts to do it, as it is stated, “You shall not covet.” And if a person longs for his fellow to sell him a field or a vineyard or [any] of his possessions and [the owner] does not want to sell it - but if he pleads with him with many supplications, he will be embarrassed to answer him - it is forbidden to plead with him, as it is like coercion or duress. And one who covets to take any object and is a respected person - such that if he asked the question, they would not let his eminence down - it is forbidden to ask for [any] purchase or grant, unless he knows that [the owner] would give it to him with [full agreement], and not regret giving it to him in his heart.

Maimonides writes that the different wording used here as compared to the Tenth Commandment in Exodus 20,14 are not to be viewed as a mere repetition of the same commandment differently worded. The prohibition of לא תתאוה is a separate prohibition. The prohibition of לא תחמוד enjoins one not to acquire someone else's possession either by paying for it or by not paying for it unless the owner voluntarily agrees to sell it. The additional prohibition in our פרשה refers to the contemplation of ownership of such objects of one's desire. We must not ask how the Torah can expect us to exercise control over our mind's desires. This is a spurious argument. Only wicked people or fools would argue in such a way. Man is a free agent and can control his desires. He can discipline himself not to desire what is forbidden. G–d is well aware of our innermost thoughts and will punish people for sinful thoughts, whereas He will reward people who have pure thoughts for up to two thousand generations. It is best if a person can train himself to have only pure thoughts, for they lead to laudable deeds.

The מכילתא on Exodus 20,14 comments in a vein similar to what Maimonides has written. The commandment of לא תתאוה is seen as a preliminary stage to לא תחמוד. As long as the desire is not yet accompanied by plans to acquire the desired object, regardless of the owner's attitude, one is guilty only of לא תתאוה. As soon as one plans to obtain possession of the object of one's desire one becomes guilty of violating the commandment of לא תחמוד. How do I know that the plan to acquire someone else's property against his will eventually will lead to robbery? We know this from Michah 2,2: וחמדו שדות וגזלו , "They covet fields and seize them."

Now any man who has this quality strongly within him, is very despicable, for jealousy brings a person to lust, for when a man does not pay attention to what his companion acquires, he does not lust. And the Torah said, "You shall not lust after the wife of your neighbor… and anything that belongs to your neighbor" (Exod. 20:14). A man who is overpowered by lust, is very close to transgressing the Ten Commandments. A parable that will illustrate this is the story of a man who had a neighbor and there was a wall that separated them and their property. Now the wicked man coveted the wife of his neighbor, and also some of his possessions. One day he overheard the man say to his wife, "I shall have to leave for a while for business," and thus he did. What did the wicked man do? On Sabbath eve, he went and broke the wall that was between them. And thus, he had already transgressed the commandment to "remember and keep the Sabbath." He then forcibly attacked the wife of his neighbor, and in that way transgressed the commandment that "You shall not covet" and he lay with her, and thus he transgressed the commandment "You shall not commit adultery." And after that when he began to plunder the possessions of his neighbor, the woman cried out, and when she cried out, he slew her — and so he transgressed the commandment "You shall not commit murder." And after he had robbed and stolen what he lusted for, he had already transgressed the commandment, "You shall not steal" as well as "You shalt not covet." Then his father and his mother stood up and rebuked him. He arose up against them and struck them, and thus he transgressed the commandment "Honor your father and your mother." And afterwards, when he was brought to court, he and his worthless companions testified that the property found in his possession had been left with him as a pledge by his neighbor and that he had permitted his neighbor to take them back in trust even though he had not paid. He had trusted his neighbor with the pledge and had never been able to obtain possession of them until now when the robbers had broken the wall which was between their properties and had slain the woman and that when he heard the commotion he had entered and taken back his pledge. Now by this testimony, he transgressed against the commandment "You shall not utter false testimony against your neighbor." Then continually, wherever he went, he swore that he had done nothing wrong, and so he transgressed against the commandment, "You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain." Finally, his crimes were revealed and his wrong became known far and wide. Because of this disgrace, he became utterly depraved, denied the living God and thus he transgressed against the First Commandment, "I am the Lord thy God." Finally, he became attached to idolatry and thus he transgressed the command "You shall have no other gods, you shall not bow down before them and you shall not serve them." And all of this was caused by his lust! Thus we find that lust can bring one very near to transgress against all of the Torah.

The Torah continues with: ואהבת לרעך כמוך, אני ה', "Love your fellow as yourself, I am the Lord." Whereas the Ten Commandments commence with G–d saying: אנכי ה' אלוקיך, in this instance G–d describes Himself as, אני ה'. The latter word is the Egyptian equivalent for אנכי. The Ten Commandments comprise 613 letters from the beginning until the word רעך in Exodus 20,14. The last two words in the Ten Commandments, i.e. אשר לרעך, "that which belongs to your fellow," are the רגל, "foundation," upon which the entire Torah is based.