What would the world look like if we successfully followed all of the aseret hadibrot? And if we followed none of them? Today we focused on #8, “Do not steal.” We delved into whether it is an easy commandment to follow, what kinds of situations make following each commandment challenging, and how our mistakes affect the people around us.
We opened snacktime learning by asking our students, “Is not stealing an easy commandment to follow?”
Unanimously: YES!
We challenged that understanding with three test cases:
Case #1: “You did a HUGE shopping run at Target with your dad. As you’re unloading the cart at your car, you notice that the water bottles you bought are under the cart and you haven’t paid for them. Is it stealing?”
“It’s not stealing because you can go back and pay for it.”
“I’m not sure if it’s stealing… maybe it’s in between stealing and not stealing.”
Case #2: “Your little brother plays with a toy as your family picks up a few things in CVS. After you leave, you realize it’s still in his pocket. Is it stealing?”
“Depends on how old the little brother is. If the brother is old enough to understand stealing, like 4th grade, he’d know he was doing it. If he was 2 or 3 and didn’t know what he was doing, it isn’t stealing. I’d either tell my parents or bring him back in the store myself.”
“It isn’t stealing. He was borrowing. As long as he brings it back, it’s not stealing.”
“It is stealing! He didn’t tell anyone he was borrowing it. You can’t just take things.”
Case #3: “At snack, you are really ready for seconds, but the teacher says it isn’t time yet. While she’s reading the next piece of text, you reach up, grab some anyway, and eat it quietly. You know that once you take it, there will not be enough for your whole table to have seconds. You think no one will notice. Is it stealing?”
“Yes! It’s BOTH stealing and lying because you didn’t tell anyone what you were doing, and the teachers don’t know, and it’s like you’ve done it secretly. It’s Ly-eal—a combination of lying and stealing.”
“Lying isn’t not telling someone, it’s telling someone something that isn’t true.”
“If someone asked, “What happened to the snack?” and you don’t answer, that’s definitely lying.”
“If you just don’t tell, it’s secretive and sneaky, but not lying. “
“So is not stealing an easy commandment to follow?”
“NO!” (in unison)
“Why not?”
“Because at the beginning before you thought about it, I was like—no one steals. Easy. But when you think about it, accidents happen, and you don’t realize it’s even happening. And because someone could think you were stealing and got accused of stealing for just walking out of the store without realizing something was still in your hand… that’s tricky!”
“In the middle—not that easy and not that hard. It takes a lot of self-control not to steal.”
“It’s hard to not take things in a store where all the things I want are where I can reach and are so interesting!”
“What are the consequences of stealing?”
“Getting in trouble.”
“Getting your hand chopped off –in history.”
“Everyone gets mad at you.”
“Sometimes they take the thing back.”
“You could go to jail.”
“How would you feel if someone stole from you?”
“Bad!”
“I would gear up in my superhero suit, fly out, and put them in my jail. And then they would always stay under there.”
“You would feel vengant?”
“Yeah!”
“I would want to punch them in the face.”
“You would feel violent? You would want to hurt them. Why is that, do you think?”
“I’m asking a serious question. Because when we study the 10 commandments, we’re thinking about what the world could look like if we do them and what the world could look like if we don’t. So how would you feel if someone stole from you?”
“I’d feel sad. I’d miss it. Especially if they stole my baby sister.”
“I’d feel sad, mad, and jealous.”
“I would be mad, and I would miss what they took.”
“What does a community look like if people are stealing from each other?”
“People might steal each other’s money and then they wouldn’t have any food to eat.”
“I wouldn’t trust them, and I wouldn’t want to be around them.”
“What options do you after any of these scenarios?”
“If you notice it soon enough, you could ask your parents to pay for your little brother’s toy.”
“If you are still in the parking lot, you could go back in and pay for it.”
“If you are home, you could call the store and ask them to come take the water back.”
“If you are home, you could call the store and pay them over the phone for the water.”
Stay tuned for another Walk & Talk soon for more ideas of how to talk to your wise children about what they’re learning at Makom Community!