The Tenth Commandment

Of all of the ten commandments, and I’m talking about what it says in the Torah and the Talmud, not whatever the hell you Christians twisted God’s word into in the fifth century, the tenth has been the one I’ve had the most problems with.  For those not sure what I’m talking about, the tenth commandment, as it was written in the book of Exodus, not the Deuteronomy rehashing, translated from Hebrew to English, reads roughly:

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.

Mostly, I’ve had no problems with this.  I don’t desire my neighbor’s house.  I’m not into my neighbor’s wife.  I don’t want their slaves.  I’m not even interested in my neighbor’s flock of oxen.  I have, however, coveted my neighbor’s ass before: many times. 

Over the years, I’ve lived next to a few people with pretty sweet asses.  I will admit that I coveted those asses at the time.  However, as I think back on those situations they generally ended poorly for me.  Perhaps I should have taken HaShem’s message to heart.  After all, it is His universe and He gave us that commandment for a reason.    He created asses too and if there’s anyone who knows the true power of booty, it’s Him.