If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and then slaughters or sells it, he must pay five oxen for each ox, and four sheep for each sheep. (Shemos 21:37)

The Torah teaches us that if one steals and is caught, he pays at least double. If one went another step and either slaughtered or sold the cow or the sheep, he would have to pay 4 or 5 times the original value. Chazal teach us that he pay 5 times the value for a cow because he was able to lead the cow away, but only 4 times the value for a sheep because he had to carry it on his shoulders – a very embarrassing situation. Therefore, he gets a “discount” on his penalty.

For years it bothered me: What does it mean that the man was embarrassed? No one forced him to steal the sheep! Obviously, if he decided to steal this sheep, he felt it was worthwhile – perhaps he should even have to pay more than 4x because he had more malicious intent, being that he decided to steal even though he knew he would be embarrassed!

I saw another question asked by the Ben Yehoyada (Ben Ish Chai): If the reason that he is given a discount is because of his embarrassment when he stole the animal, shouldn’t the discount also be given for when he steals an animal without selling or slaughtering it? Why is it only given in the case where he also sold or slaughtered the animal? The Ben Yehoyada’s answer can be summarized as follows: We often find ourselves saying that we are doing things with a full heart, even though we are really just not “there”. This applies to the mitzvos and in the words of Chazal, this is called mitzvos anashim milumada. Even regarding sins, we find that the Rabbis discount even the service of idols when done by rote, saying “the custom of their forefathers is in their hands” – they are only following a custom.

A baal teshuva from Russia once told me, “I am not a regular baal teshuva – I am a RUSSIAN baal teshuva.” I asked “What’s so special about Russian baalei teshuva?” He answered, “I was a non-believer, an atheist. I then became a believer in G-d! But most people in the world already believe in G-d a little, so when they become baalei teshuva they just increase the intensity of their practice. Or in the case of a convert, they just switch teams, so to speak. Nevertheless, for them, it is all the same game called ‘the service of G-d’.” To this I responded, “I believe that the Russian atheist is a non-believer to the same extent that the average American is a believer. Neither really thought about it and they are both repeating what society dictates!”

If one were to ask a derelict bum why he steals, he would probably answer, “I have to make a living somehow!” He legitimizes it to the extent that he considers himself a functioning citizen in society. Therefore, how much can we blame him for not realizing that stealing is a bad thing?

When we look at this thief, we perhaps would just see his selling or slaughtering as the way that he fences his goods and is part of his initial robbery. The Torah sees the person who goes the extra step to sell or to slaughter the animal as an additional sin, though connected to the first one. The Torah sees him as making a conscious decision to do a new, vile, act. At this point (where he is doing something that won’t allow him to return the object) we can truly demand of him, “Didn’t you hear at Har Sinai not to steal?” Similarly, now that you are able to think about what you are doing, you are not just doing it out of habit. Now you thought that it was worthwhile to steal. He is consciously choosing to do the act, though he will be embarrassed! Now it is not on impulse, but it is a cognizant decision, and the thief is willing to pay the price. This thief weighed the pros and cons and came to this conclusion, and this is why he gets a discount at this stage.

I believe that we can take a lesson from this. We know that the “good measure” is always rewarded greater than the negative measure. When a person feels uncomfortable doing a mitzvah, he will definitely be rewarded for the good which he has done. On top of that, the fact that he decided to accept the embarrassment that came with the mitzvah will earn him much greater reward.

I think this is a good lesson to keep in mind. For example, when going to a place where you are not certain of the status of the kashrus. One should avoid eating, though it may be uncomfortable. Or one can speak to a competent Rav about the kashrus, even though that is uncomfortable. This is with the knowledge that this discomfort that you will feel will definitely be rewarded greatly by Hashem.