The tenth and final commandment is: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his servant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
We are measured not only by our actions but also by our intentions. Every action is preceded by a thought and an intention. Therefore, true correction lies not merely in performing good deeds toward others. It is primarily in correcting the intentions behind those deeds. Each person can examine whether they genuinely intend what is good for another, or whether they are secretly seeking some personal gain from the action they perform.
To covet means to intend to use for one’s own benefit something that does not belong to oneself, or in other words, to act toward another person with an egoistic intention. Even if, outwardly, it appears that we have done something good for someone else, it is possible that our real intention was to gain something for personal benefit.
For this reason, the commandment “You shall not covet” teaches that we should not seek personal gain at another person’s expense. Our correction must reach such a level that not even within our hearts does there arise an intention to exploit others for our own benefit. The goal is to attain a state in which our motives are as pure as our actions, directed entirely at the well-being of others and the strengthening of the bonds that connect us.
Based on “New Life 159 – The Ten Commandments, Part 2” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.