4-5769: Mitzvah N-40

Talmidav Shel Aharon
4-5769: Mitzvah N-40
November 20, 2008

Negative Mitzvah 40 – This is a negative commandment: Do not covet anything belonging to another person.

Hafetz Hayim: for Scripture says, “You shall not covet etc.” (Ex. 20:14) Now coveting denotes that a person invests effort to put his thought into action; he sends many friends to the fellow, and importunes him, until he takes it [the object of desire] from him. Even if he has given him a great price for it, he thus violates the commandment. This often occurs when a son-in-law pressures his father-in-law before the wedding that he should give him this or that object, which they did not stipulate when the t’naiim were written. Even if his father-in-law fulfills his demand, the son-in-law nevertheless violates this prohibition. It is in force everywhere and at all times for both men and women.

This commandment, another of the famous Ten Commandments, is one that is important for the sake of Peace. It is very hard for a legal system to lead people to do more than what the law allows. This is a prime example of the difference between a pure legal system and Jewish Law. Judaism is not only about the law, but about morality as well. There is a whole category of laws relating to bringing peace between two people, between husband and wife, between brothers, between friends and between business partners. It is not enough to do what is right, we have to do things that will not bring about strife with someone else.
Coveting has the capacity to create strife. When we desire what someone else has, so much that we will do almost anything to secure it, there is a big problem. I have seen people go on a campaign to get what they want from someone else. It does not matter if the person who is the point of this campaign finally gives in. The feelings of hurt and resentment remain.
What is coveting and what is not? It is not coveting if the person has the item for sale and you are negotiating the price. It is not coveting if all agree that this object is payment for some service you are providing. It is not coveting if you ask your neighbor to let you know when she is ready to sell an item as long as you don’t ask, “Are you selling it yet?” It is coveting when you want what belongs to someone else, no matter if it is an object or even a person. You can’t covet a person’s wife, imploring him to divorce her, convincing him that she is no good, and doing all this so you can have her. It applies to movable objects and even real estate. (see the story of King Ahab of Israel and Nabot’s vineyard in the Book of Kings).

I have to admit, when I first saw the Hafetz Hayim’s example of the son-in-law who desires something that belongs to his father-in-law, I first wondered if the Hafetz Hayim was having trouble with his own son-in-law! Weddings today are not done in quite the same way so some explanation is needed. Weddings for centuries in Judaism took over a year to complete. The couple would decide to marry and their families would then get together for a party and to set up the terms of the wedding. They decided at that time who would pay for the different parts of the wedding ceremony, and what each of the families would provide for the couple. The bride’s family might have to bring bedding, pillows and household items; the groom’s family might provide a house, animals, tools and even a job/support for the groom. These terms were spelled out in “te’naiim” a contract that specified when all the terms had to be completed, usually at the same time the families gathered again for the wedding. If one family did not fulfill their obligations, the wedding could be cancelled. To seal the “t’naiim” (agreement) the two families (usually the two mothers) would together, break a plate.
In our case, the son-in-law wants something from his father-in-law that is not part of the t’naiim. This demand by the groom is a problem because he is indirectly threatening that he may decide not to marry the daughter if the man does not give in to his demands. It puts the bride’s father in a very difficult position and even if he gives in to the demand, there is now resentment and anger that may, eventually, disrupt the marriage itself as one family is now angry at the other. (It is assumed that if the son asked his own parents for an object, they would give it to him out of family love.)
The idea here is to be thankful for what we have, rather than envy what someone else has.

3-5769: Mitzvah N-39

Talmidav Shel Aharon
3-5769: Mitzvah N-39
November 11, 2008

Negative Mitzvah 39 – This is a negative commandment: Do not give false testimony.

Hafetz Hayim: for Scripture says, “You shall not bear false witness against your fellow.” (Ex. 20:13) If someone give as testimony what he heard from others, even definitely trustworthy people, he likewise violates this prohibition. If a person hires false withesses, or if out suppresses his testimony [and does not go to give it] he is free, not punishable by the laws of man, but punishable by the laws of Heaven.
It is in force everywhere and at all times for both men and women.

This commandment, one of the famous Ten Commandments, is one that is important for the sake of Justice. Justice is one of the basic underlying assumptions that Judaism depends upon. Even God is called to justice by Abraham. Monotheism in our faith is important because it leads to justice. If there were more than one god, then we could say that we have not sinned, rather it was a requirement of the “other” god. Judaism insists on one God and one Law. It is the only way Justice can be insured.
False testimony undermines Justice. It is not only about testifying falsely. That is lying under oath. This not only is a breach of Justice but an act of blasphemy against God in whose name an oath was sworn to tell the truth. It is even more important to tell what you know to be the truth from your own experience. If your testimony is based on something someone else told you, it is not your testimony and you need to let the parties know that there is someone who has information that is important to this case. Hearsay testimony is not permitted and if you say it as if it were your own, you have given false testimony.
But what if you don’t lie under oath but hire someone to testify falsely or if you refrain from letting anyone know what you know will help or hurt their case? This is not a case of false testimony, but of subverting Justice. There is no Torah law that prohibits this but it is morally wrong to act in this way.
This underlines a major problem with prohibitions and laws in general. They can only speak to matters that are punishable. There is an entire way to live that goes beyond the letter of the law. Our duties as Jews and as responsible citizens are to do more than what the law can require. If we only fulfill the “letter of the law” then we are a disappointment to God. If you hire witnesses to testify falsely, you have not done anything wrong, the false witnesses have violated this commandment and will be punished. They are the evil ones in this situation. If you refrain from telling what you know or that you know anything, you have not lied, so you are not in violation of the commandment, but you have not helped secure Justice. You can’t expect G-d to be happy with that kind of an attitude.
It is important that we remember that while it is a sin to testify falsely, it is not good if you don’t help, in any way you can, to bring about justice.

2-5769: Mitzvah N-38

Talmidav Shel Aharon
2-5769: Mitzvah N-38
November 2, 2008

Negative Mitzvah 37 – This is a negative commandment: Do not delay the payment of a hired man’s wages.
Hafetz Hayim: for Scripture says, “The wages of a hired man shall not remain with you [all night] until the morning.” (Lev. 19:13). And it says further “neither shall the sun go down on it.” (Deut. 24:15) For if he was a hired man for the day, he is to collect his wages anytime during the entire night. [Since it says “all night until the morning”] And if he was hired for the night, he is to collect his wages anytime during the day [because it says “neither shall the sun go down upon it”]. A man hired for certain hours during the day can collect anytime during the day and a man hired for certain hours during the night is to collect anytime during the night.
In the case of a craftsman who is hired to repair an object, as long as the object is in the possession of the craftsman , even if the craftsman informed the owner that he completed it, the owner commits no transgression. If he does not demand his payment, from him the owner commits no transgression. And even if he demanded it of him and he did not have what to give him, or if the employer passed him on to another and the other person took it upon himself to pay, he is free of guilt.
If a person delays the wages of a hired man beyond the allotted time, he disobeys the positive commandment (see Mitzvah 66) and he violates this prohibition. If after the time he delays further, he violates a prohibition from the words of the later parts of Scripture “Do not say to your fellow, “Go and come again, etc” (Proverbs 3:28) It is all one whether it is the hire of man or a domestic animal or tools and instruments; these words of Scripture apply to it: “On the same day you shall give him his wage; neither shall the sun go down on it and the wages … shall not remain with you all night. .” If someone wrongfully retains the wages of a hired man, it is as though he takes his life, and he violates the injunctions (Mitzvot N-35 & N-37) “You shall not wrongfully deprive your fellow, nor rob him.
It is in force everywhere and at all times for both men and women.

The Hafetz Hayim is so clear here that I almost don’t need to comment at all. The law is simple, if a person does work for you; you have the obligation to pay him right away. A hired man, or a hired woman, or a tradesman or a craftsman, depends on those wages to feed himself and his families. We are talking about day laborers, hired in the morning and to be paid at the end of the day. We may have money in the bank and can wait to be paid until the end of the week or until the end of the next pay period, but these people depend on being paid immediately for the work they have completed. According to the Torah, you are endangering the hired man’s life if you delay payment. If you insist that he keep coming back day after day to collect his wages, you have caused him pain and embarrassment and are also in violation of the law.
It is my custom to pay my bills on time every month. Those who bill me are paid before the deadline printed on the bill. The hired people who do work for me are paid at once. We had a man, Willie Woods, who cut our lawn for many years. If I was home when he cut the grass, I would stop what I was doing and write the check for him so that he could have it as soon as he was finished. I didn’t like to force him to wait for me to write it later. I wanted to have the check ready so he could be free to go on to his next customer. If I was not home I knew Willie would be back at the end of the day and I tried to have the check ready for him when he came back. All Willie had was his lawnmower and his truck. If I did not pay him for the work he did, then how could he feed his family and buy gas for his equipment? In addition, I made it a point to always shake his hand and thank him for a job well done. He often protested that his hands were too dirty to shake my hand but I shook hands with him anyway. He was not “just a hired hand” but a reliable worker and the father of a family. He was not that different from me.
The exceptions to this law are technical in nature. If you give your watch to a craftsman to fix and he finishes it and tells you to come and pick it up, you don’t have to rush to his store. After all, he has the watch, if you default on the payment, he can sell the watch. If the craftsman does not demand his payment, then the owner is not required to pay. If the owner can’t pay because he has no money, then he does not violate the law because the craftsman still has the watch. This clearly does not apply to the hired man since the work is now finished and he must be paid. If the employer does not have the money, he should not have contracted that day to do the work. If someone else has given the hired man his wages for the day, the first employer is free from guilt if he does not pay the same day (but he still owes him money).
The law sides with the day laborer. If he goes to court, the court will demand immediate payment from the employer. It also applies to the man who employs an animal to help on his farm, or if he rents tools or instruments. The person who owns the items depends on the income to feed his family and maintain the animals or the tools. There is no leeway. Even if the man did a bad job and even if he damaged something, he needs to be paid for the day lest he go home and starve. A man deserves payment for a day’s work. It is a sin to withhold his wages