大象传媒

Harvey Belovski, rabbi at Golders Green United Synagogue:

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This Saturday morning, every synagogue in the world will be reading the 10 Commandments.听 According to the Bible, God carved these ideas on two tablets of stone, which Moses brought to the Israelites encamped around Mount Sinai. Although this all happened a long time ago, the 10 Commandments still carry profound influence, even if today some people might prefer 10 Suggestions to 10 Commandments.

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Whenever I hear them read, I can鈥檛 help thinking about the legendary Charlton Heston 鈥� complete with red stripy robe and woolly stick-on beard 鈥� playing Moses in the 1950s classic movie.听 It doesn鈥檛 quite capture to majesty of the biblical story, but it鈥檚 still rather good.

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Some of the commandments, like honouring parents, the Sabbath, respect for human life and property are easy to understand, even if they鈥檙e tough to do.听 But the last commandment 鈥� don鈥檛 covet 鈥� is a different story.听 What is coveting anyway?听 It鈥檚 not a word we use very much these days.听 A helpful dictionary definition is 鈥榯o want to have something very much, especially something that belongs to someone else鈥�.

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Can we really control the way we think or feel?听 We can tell people not to murder or steal 鈥� to regulate their behaviour 鈥� and society finds ways to enforce them when they don鈥檛.听 But telling people not to want things 鈥� how does that work?听 Imagine I walk past a non-kosher restaurant and the food looks really tasty.听 Obviously, I can decide not to eat there, but can I decide not to want to eat there?听 To pretend I don鈥檛 really fancy a bite?

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A wise thinker once explained that not coveting is really about positive self-image; about loving who we are, rather than wishing we were someone else.听 I believe each of us is born with a set of resources 鈥� family, location, intelligence and opportunities.听 We all make the best of what we have, but sometimes, we make the mistake of thinking we鈥檇 be better off with someone else鈥檚 family, bank account, or holiday arrangements.听 Of course, we don鈥檛 actually want to be the other person 鈥� often we don鈥檛 even like them 鈥� but we think we could have a better life with their resources rather than ours.

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So I think not coveting is about being having a positive self-regard and liking ourselves 鈥� making the best of who we are and what we have every day.听听