Hello. Today we will continue our important study in the book Brit Shalom, the laws of the Children of Noah, and we have reached Chapter Seven. This is a very significant chapter, dealing with the commandment prohibiting theft.
It is forbidden to rob one’s fellow; it is forbidden to steal. The Torah says this both to the people of Israel and to the Children of Noah: “You shall not steal.”
What is the basis of this law? Its foundation is the idea of ownership—that what a person acquires, the integrity of one’s property, is an integral part of human completeness. Animals do not have property, but human beings do. To such an extent that when the Talmud wishes to derive that it is forbidden to offer an animal that was stolen as a sacrifice, it learns this from the word adam (“man”) stated with regard to sacrifices: “When a man (adam) among you brings an offering…” This refers to Adam, the first human being. Just as Adam did not bring something stolen—because everything belonged to him—so too, when we bring an offering to God, it must not come from stolen property.
This teaches us that the integrity of one’s property is a very significant part of the definition of a complete human being. That is why I also called this chapter “Integrity of Ownership,” meaning the wholeness of a person’s property. There is also a verse in the book of Leviticus: “You shall not oppress your fellow and you shall not rob,” in Leviticus chapter 19.
I would say that the understanding that it is forbidden to steal belongs to universal morality. Even without the Torah, the Children of Noah—human beings in general—understand that there is value in not stealing. But the Torah added that this is also a commandment. A person who refrains from theft, who safeguards the property of another, thereby fulfills the will of the Creator and cleaves to the Holy One, blessed be He.
Therefore, I also brought here several moral teachings. Section A states: “Let your fellow’s property be as dear to you as your own.” This is an expression found in the Mishnah, in Pirkei Avot. Just as you cherish your own property, so too should you cherish the property of your fellow.
There is also a very striking statement of our Sages: anyone who steals from his fellow even the value of a perutah—even a very small amount—is as if he takes his soul from him. That is, you have effectively taken away a part of his life. A person is bound up with his possessions, with his property. When you steal from him, it is as if you have, in some measure, killed him.
