Stealing Is Wrong. Did We Forget That?

I was in my freshman year of high school, and one day after class, my friend and I were hanging out at our local CVS. We were looking through the makeup section, checking out eye shadow and lipstick and mascara. 

I still couldn’t believe this girl was my friend; she was one of the cool kids. She had purple hair and wore ripped up jeans and listened to punk rock. I wanted to be cool like her.  

As I picked up some mascara, my friend whispered in my ear, “Steal it.”

“What?” I said. 

“Just put it in your backpack. If it’s under $10, the alarm won’t go off.”

“But why?” I whispered. “I can afford it.”

“This is a corporation. They work stealing into their bottom line. Stick it to the man. Steal it,” she said, egging me on.

Her argument made sense. Corporate America was evil! They underpaid their workers. They stomped on mom and pop shops. If I took this $5 mascara, it was me fighting back against them. I was actually doing something good. 

Her argument made sense. Corporate America was evil! They underpaid their workers. They stomped on mom and pop shops. If I took this $5 mascara, it was me fighting back against them. I was actually doing something good. 

In that moment, I hoped to impress my friend and do my part in making the world a better place. So I put the mascara in my backpack, held my breath and walked out of the store. The alarm didn’t go off. The cashier didn’t come after me. Nothing happened. 

My friend giggled and I felt a rush of adrenaline. I couldn’t believe I’d stolen something. I couldn’t believe I could just get something for free like that. I was empowered.

After that, I didn’t steal again per se, but I also wasn’t careful if I took some pens from my work, and I wouldn’t say anything if a cashier accidentally gave me too much change back at the store. I was happy to get things for free, even if they weren’t meant to be free, or find some cash on the ground. 

Years after that incident in ninth grade, when I was in my junior year of college, I was shopping with a friend at the grocery store. I’d pick up some food and water bottles, and was about to go to check out when she encouraged me to walk out of the store and not pay. I thought back to when I was 14 years old and I’d gotten away with theft.

“Sure,” I told my friend, as we made our way towards the exit without paying. 

As I got outside, a security guard came running after me. 

“Did you pay for that?” he said, pointing to my cart. 

“I thought I did,” I said, lying. “Did my card not go through?”

“No,” he said. “You have to go back in and pay.”

My face turned red. My heart was beating rapidly. 

“Oh, OK,” I said. “I will.”

I went back to the check out and paid. 

I was so embarrassed. I knew in my gut that what I did was wrong, and getting caught was a wakeup call. I never purposely stole again.

There are a number of laws in Judaism that deal with stealing. Along with not intentionally stealing, you can’t even steal from someone as a joke or to teach them a lesson.

Now that I’m an observant Jew, I’m very careful about stealing. There are a number of laws in Judaism that deal with stealing. Along with not intentionally stealing, you can’t even steal from someone as a joke or to teach them a lesson. 

When it comes to work, you cannot take too long of a lunch or coffee break, since it would be like stealing from your employer. And if you find a lost object, there are strict laws you need to follow so that you don’t accidentally end up stealing it. 

Unfortunately, we live in a society where stealing is no longer seen as a big deal. In California, people are stealing hundreds of dollars worth of items from stores every day and using excuses as I once did to justify their actions. 

For example, they may say that theft is factored into a company’s bottom line. A company knows it’s going to happen, and they account for it. Wouldn’t that make stealing OK? Isn’t it justified if it’s a big corporation?

The truth is that no matter what the circumstances, stealing is objectively wrong. Once you steal one small thing, you will start to justify stealing bigger and bigger things. You may go to great lengths to steal and end up hurting others in the process. 

You will certainly be hurting yourself. On a spiritual level, stealing hurts your soul. It makes you into a more callous person who is less sensitive to others. You don’t remember that someone put effort into making the thing you’re stealing. You don’t know whom you’re going to affect when you steal. 

As a recent victim of a burglary, where a robber stole $25,000 worth of equipment from my husband’s podcast studio, I’m familiar with this. The burglar may have thought, “If I steal these things, I can sell them and make some money. The owners will recover from this. But I need the money more than they do.” 

The burglar didn’t know about the years my husband and I spent trying to make his dream come true, how we scrimped and saved and took out loans to pay for this entrepreneurial endeavor. The burglar didn’t think about the trauma he inflicted on us, and how we now have nightmares and are in intensive therapy to deal with it. 

There is a spiritual sickness in our society. It’s not just in California, but also in America as a whole. Everywhere, people are stealing from one another and committing far more heinous crimes. It seems like there is no regard for basic morals. So how can we fix it?

By changing our actions and working on ourselves. 

Start with improving yourself and encourage others to do the same. Learn about the Jewish laws on theft. Teach your children never to steal, even if they’re plucking a flower from a neighbor’s garden. Show them that we have to ask permission to do even that. Show them that we need to always respect other human beings. 

Small actions add up and make all the difference. We can make things better. 

Remember: We are not powerless. We are powerful. 

Want to get in touch? Email me at Kylieol@JewishJournal.com.

Kylie Ora Lobell is the Community Editor of the Jewish Journal.