What are the different kinds of theft and lies?
Table for Five: Achrei Mot – Kedoshim
In partnership with the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles
Edited by Nina Litvak & Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist
You shall not steal. You shall not deny falsely. You shall not lie, one man to his fellow. – Lev. 19:11
Rabbi Gershon Schusterman, Author, “Why God Why?”
In Ethics of our Fathers (Avot 4:2), the Mishnah says: “A mitzvah leads to another mitzvah and a transgression leads to another transgression.” When a person does a mitzvah, he is proud of it and prompted to do more good deeds. When a person transgresses on the other hand, he might be pleased for the moment, but guilt and shame inevitably set in, as well as the fear that others will find out.
A prime example of the latter is the following sinful sequence: stealing, denying (passively), lying (actively) then ultimately (as described next in the Torah’s sequence (Lev.19:12)) swearing falsely in G-d’s name. While impulsively transgressing is human, a person with character and courage will rise to the occasion, bear the shame, admit the sin and make amends. Those with less integrity and character might obfuscate and deny and when confronted they might even lie brazenly. Ultimately, they might lie under oath in G-d’s name, thereby denying that G-d knows their heart and has witnessed the transgression, thus denying G-d Himself.
This can be summed up succinctly by the First Rule of Holes: “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” It’s better to step out of the hole while it is still shallow with only a little cleanup to do, lest you dig yourself in deeper to the point that the more you dig, the deeper the hole gets and you with it.
Rabbi Ari Averbach, Host of the podcast Moral Courage
The chapter begins with the command often translated: “You shall be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” It then follows with a list of laws, many of them a rephrasing of the Ten Commandments – honoring parents, observing Shabbat, eschewing idols, and our selected verse’s exhortation of stealing. Our commentators of millennia past try to parse the different kinds of stealing, as the words are written in triplicate.
Maybe to understand the words, we have to retranslate the shortest word in the section, the Hebrew Ki. When I was a kid, I learned that this two-letter word means “because” (which it often does). Hence the common translation that we should be holy *because* God is holy. But what if we choose from another viable translation of that short word? Maybe it is conditional. *If* we are holy – if we treat one another with honesty and kindness, if we pay people living wages and pay them on-time, if we refuse to fall into the trap of dealing falsely with one another – *then* God will be holy. If we (Jews, God’s partners) can bring sanctity into this chaotic world through the 613 different ways illuminated in the holy Torah, then (and only then) will God become holy to us.
Maybe the question is why we need this imperative in the first place. Are we prone to stealing? Of course we are. We need these reminders. God knows this. And God tells us. Because God wants us to be holy.
Rabbi Chaim Tureff, Rav Beit Sefer, Pressman Academy and author of “Recovery in the Torah”
Even though it is the Omer and I’m refraining from music, the song by The Fixx “One Thing Leads To Another” keeps ringing in my head. As the song opens up, “The deception with tact, just what are you trying to say?” It’s the first thing that came to my mind as I read this pasuk. I then went towards a more traditional route with the Torah dictum Mitzvah Goreret Mitzvah, Averah Goreret Averah. A positive commandment leads to a positive commandment and a negative commandment leads to a negative commandment. Many times as we do something that we shouldn’t it leads us to do something else that we shouldn’t and it has a domino effect. We try to cover up our previous transgression with other transgressions and it becomes an endless pit. Like many addicts, when they use or do something they deem unacceptable, the only way they feel they can move forward is to do something worse because deep down in their heart they feel they’re not worthy. Rashi saw this insight 1,000 years ago, “If you steal you will in the end come to deny it, then you will lie, and ultimately you will swear falsely.” However, the opposite is also true. When we do something positive, many times it leads to more positive encounters. As a popular saying in 12 step rooms notes, “Do the next right thing” which empowers us to take the next positive step and not get mired in the past.
Rabbi Natan Halevy, WWW.KAHALJOSEPH.ORG
Lessons Behind “Do Not Steal”: In the Ten Commandments, “do not steal” refers specifically to kidnapping—the theft of a person. However, in our parsha, it addresses theft of money and property. Interestingly, the Torah sometimes uses the singular form and other times the plural when commanding against stealing. This variation highlights that the prohibition applies both to individuals and to the community. The community must enforce these laws and punish offenders, while individuals must resist wrongdoing, even when surrounded by a corrupt society.
Another reason for the plural form is that someone who witnesses theft and remains silent is considered complicit—a thief in their own right.
One might mistakenly believe that if someone steals from them, they are entitled to steal it back. However, Ben Bag Bag teaches that this is forbidden. Instead, one should openly inform the thief they are reclaiming their property, even if this leads to confrontation, rather than resorting to secretive or retaliatory theft.
Hashem further commands: “I have instructed you to give to the poor out of respect for Me; how much more so must you not take from others what is not yours.” Similarly, the Torah warns against dishonesty. Do not make false promises, such as offering a favor in return for another’s help without intending to fulfill it. If your friend acts based on your word, you are obligated to honor your promise. Failing to do so is considered a lie. Likewise, never attempt to extract money from someone who owes you nothing.
Kira Sirote, author of Haftorah Unrolled (Ra’anana, Israel)
If you’re asked to think of a holy person, who do you think of? What are they like?
My husband climbed Mt Kilimanjaro a couple of years ago. We have a picture of him wearing his Tallis and Tefillin, with the mountain’s summit in the background. His Tanzanian guides saw that and called him “the holy man.” We laugh about it when we look at the album, but the truth is, dedicating a part of your day, every day, to worshipping G-d – yes, that is holy.
But our G-d is not satisfied with us dedicating our time to Him in worship. He wants us to dedicate our sense of right and wrong to Him as well. If that holy person we imagined dressed a certain way, prayed a certain way, but used his neighbor’s lawn mower without permission? Not holy.
So, how holy is a Jew who is dedicated to G-d? So holy that the commandment “Do not steal” cannot possibly mean, “don’t take stuff that doesn’t belong to you.” No, says Rabbeinu Yonah in Shaarei Teshuva, that would be basic. Too basic for the Torah, for Parashat Kedoshim, for the holy Jewish People. It means: do not take something temporarily to teach your friend that he should take better care of his stuff! Don’t borrow something without permission! Don’t take back something that belongs to you in a sneaky way as if you’re stealing it!
Kedoshim Tihyu – how holy? So holy that stealing itself is inconceivable. That’s how holy.
With thanks to Rabbi Gershon Schusterman, Rabbi Ari Averbach, Rabbi Chaim Tureff, Rabbi Natan Halevy, and Kira Sirote.
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