Do Not Steal
Hashavat Aveidah, the mitzvah of returning someone’s lost object, expresses the positive dimension of the diber “Do not steal.” It teaches us not only to refrain from taking what belongs to others, but to actively help them recover what is already theirs. If you’ve ever had something of value returned to you, you know how sweet it is.
When this principle is expanded, it becomes mind-boggling and just beautiful.
The Talmud teaches that a fetus learns the entire Torah in the womb, but upon entering the world an angel touches its mouth and it forgets it all.
This is a profound insight into how teaching and learning work: to teach is not to place new knowledge into a student’s mind, but to guide them to see the world in a new way—grasping each idea step by step, until their new understanding emerges. Maimonides writes, “The intellect moves from potential to actuality through study and reflection.”
To teach is to help others find what is already theirs.
This week, if you get the chance to teach, no matter how little and to whom, help your students find what is already theirs.
Set your intention for the day by reciting The Aseret Affirmation: Ten for Ten first thing in the morning.
Wishing you safety and strength,
Nitzan Bergman