פרשת יתרו תש"ט - לא תחמוד

You shall not covet: Many people have wondered about this commandment, how is is that a man not covet in his heart that which is beautiful [and] all that which appears pleasant in his eyes. I will give you a parable [to explain this]. You should know that a villager who thinks correctly and sees that the king's daughter is beautiful will not covet her in his heart, that he should sleep with her; as he knows that this is impossible. And this villager will not think like one of the lunatics that desires that he should have wings to fly in the sky, when it is not possible. [This is like] that which a man does not desire to sleep with his mother, even though she is beautiful, as they have accustomed him from his youth to know that it is forbidden to him. So must every enlightened person know that a beautiful woman or money is not attained by a person because of his wisdom or knowledge; rather it is from that which God apportioned to him. And Kohelet said, "(to that) [and to the one that did not toil in it], will he give it as his portion" (Ecclesiastes 2:21). And the sages said (Moed Katan 28a), "Children, life and sustenance - [this] matter does not depend on merit, but rather on the constellation." And because of this, the enlightened one will not desire and not covet. And once he knows that God forbade him the wife of his friend, it is more removed in his eyes than the daughter of the king is in the eyes of the villager. Therefore, he will 'rejoice in his portion' and he won't place in his heart to covet and desire something that is not his. Since he knows that God did not want to give it to him [and that] he is not able to take it with his power and thoughts and machinations. Hence, he will trust in his Creator, that He will provide for him and that He will do what is good in His eyes. And behold, the commentary on the Ten Commandments is completed....

לא תחמוד, the object you covet should be considered by you as so utterly unattainable that you will not even begin to hatch schemes of how to acquire it. This is the promise made by G’d in Exodus 34,24 that none of our neighbours will covet our land while we are engaged in making the pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Once you begin to covet something belonging to someone else it is only a short step to committing robbery. (compare Joshua 7,21 where Achan ben Carmi who had become guilty of such robbery admitted that it all began with his coveting the items which he stole and hid.)