Respect the Sanctity of Private Property
Seven Laws for a Beautiful Planet, The Noahide Tradition
By Tzvi Freeman
The fifth principle of Noah is about respecting the property of others.
In other words, not stealing. But there’s much more to stealing than you might have imagined.
Each of our lives has its unique purpose—and those things that enter our lives and become our possessions are key to that purpose.
You can’t steal purpose from anyone’s life, no matter how much you take away from him. But another person’s property in your possession becomes a heavy weight that does not allow your own purpose to be fulfilled.
Thinking about it this way, you’ll realize that there are many ways of stealing without even taking your hands out of your pockets.
How about the person who gets ahead by putting someone else down, for example? Isn’t that also a form of taking something that’s not really yours? The same with laughing at someone else’s expense. Or gossiping about someone else just for entertainment.
Whatever benefits you receive in this world, make sure that none of them are at the unfair expense of someone else.
Source Text:
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4157474/jewish/Seven-Laws-for-a-Beautiful-Planet.htm#2
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