Parsha Vayikra: The Value of Property Rights & Business Ethics

This week's Torah portion deals primarily with the offerings given at the Temple. Leviticus comes with a series of sins and the proper atonement under the sacrificial system that existed. In the fifth chapter of Leviticus, specifically with verses 21 and 22, we come across an intriguing passage because it is unlike the other ones in the chapter. It starts off with "If you have someone who sins and trespasses against the L-rd," or נפש כי תחטא, ומעלה מעל ביהוה. What initially threw me off was the list of sins. You have deceitful dealings with a neighbor in a deposit or pledge, robbery, fraud, or lying about finding a lost object.


First, I want to deal with why this is "trespassing against the L-rd." After all, it wasn't G-d that was shortchanged; it was the individual within a given transaction, thereby making it בין אדם לחברו. I would have expected it to say that "you are trespassing against your fellow man," but it doesn't. The message trying to be conveyed here is that violating a divine decree, regardless of whether it is בין אדם לחברו, is still a  breach of Jewish law. 


You might have thought that G-d forgot about the individual who was wronged. However, that is not the case. A guilt-offering of a ram is brought (Leviticus 5:25-26) because, as previously mentioned, the individual trespassed against G-d. However, the situation has to be squared between the individual who wronged and who was wronged. That is why G-d also demands that the sinner monetarily compensates the individual for the loss (ibid 5:23-24). 


We obviously don't have the sacrificial system instituted, and at least in my humble opinion, for good reason. Even without a guilt offering, I opine that we can still derive something from this passage. The first is that when you harm others, you are not only harming one of G-d's creations "created in His Image," but you are, for a lack of a better term, also giving the proverbial middle finger to G-d, which is highly insulting. As a result, any violation of a mitzvah that is ethical/interpersonal (בין אדם לחברו) acts as a double-whammy. 


Second is that we are observing an extension of the Eighth Commandment, the one that tells us not to steal. If you find lost property, return it to its owner. Don't commit fraud. Don't be deceitful in your day-to-day dealings. With something as seemingly mundane as property and business, we are taught to hold ourselves to a higher standard. By acting honestly in business dealings and recognizing another individual's right to property, we treat others like human beings, which is the sort of behavior that G-d expects from us.