Lesson # 223 (part one) • Objects that may be kept by the Finder

Continuing the laws of lost and found property:

When Reuven spies an object that may be lost there are three halachic possibilities:

(1) the object must be picked up and returned to the rightful owner, the loser (See lessons 218-220);
(2) the object must not be touched since it was apparently intentionally placed there by the owner (See lessons 221 and 222);
(3) all found objects not covered by lessons 218-222 that the finder may keep for himself are discussed in this lesson. The finder may pick up the object and keep it, forego picking it up for himself to keep, or leave it where it was lost.

In addition, the next passerby may or may not pick up the object and keep.
For Reuven, the finder, to keep the object for himself he must perform an act of acquisition such as picking up the object to buy it.

The most common occurrence where the finder may keep the found object is when the owner abandons hope of restoring the object, that is, the object does not posses an identification mark or it lacks a geographical designation. The object may not provide clues to identify the owner. The location of the lost object may have been inhabited by gentiles who are not bound by the Torah commandments and who may not restore found objects to the loser. Circumstances, such as a flood carrying the object downstream, may determine one's abandoning the lost object.

Caveat: The abandonment of hope must precede the finder's picking up the object. If the finder picks up the object and then the owner realizes that he lost the object and immediately abandons hope, the object does not belong to the finder. This law centers around one of the most famous disputes in the Talmud (Baba Melzia21b). For example, the owner lost the object at 6:00am and the finder picked up the object at 7:00am. At 8:00am, the owner realizes he lost the object and abandons hope of ever recovering it. The finder does not obtain ownership of the object because sometimes the owner does not immediately realize his loss. Thus, he cannot abandon hope until after he realizes that he lost the object.

For example, in a situation where the owner constantly feels his pocket to see if the valuable object is still there , he will almost immediately realize that he lost the object, especially if he realizes that the weight he was carrying is no longer there. Whenever there is doubt as to which came first, the finding or the abandoning of hope, the object must be restored to the owner.

The owner abandons hope if he makes a statement such as "Woe to me that I've suffered a loss" from which Beth Din can ascertain that the owner did indeed abandon hope, even if the object has an identification mark.
If the finder retrieves it after the abandonment, the object belongs to the finder. The finder may keep the object if the owner abandons hope of recovering it. An owner may abandon hope of recovering an object for other reasons, such as losing it in a neighborhood where he has no hope of the finder restoring the object to him. If the majority of neighborhood inhabitants or passersby are gentiles, the found object is deemed abandoned and the Torah requirement to pick up the object and restore it to the owner does not apply. The finder may then pick up the object for himself or he may ignore the object and leave it lay even if the majority of the town is Jewish, the finder knows it was lost by a Jew, and the object has an identifying mark. The finder may keep the object if the loser will almost immediately realize that he lost it and immediately abandon hope of retrieving it. However, if the owner has not abandoned hope of finding the object, it still belongs to the owner.

On the other hand, prior to the owner's abandonment the finder cannot obtain obtain ownership of the object, even if the loser abandons hope of the finder returning the object to him.

An exception to the previous laws exist if the lost object was a Torah-related book. The owner may think that the finder, even a gentile, will sell the book to a Jew who will return the book to the owner. In this case, the finder must pick up the book and restore it to the owner.

If a Jew finds a jug of wine in a place where the majority of the neighborhood inhabitants or passersby are gentiles, the finder may keep the jug but spill the wine. Even if not used for gentile religious purposes, the wine, by Rabbinical enactment, is entirely prohibited to Jews. The prohibition does not extend, however, to wine vessels.

Interestingly, if the owner turns out to be a Jew and gives the finder identifying marks to prove that the wine stored in a closed jug was lost by that Jewish owner, the finder may drink the wine since the wine was not the wine of a gentile.

Similarly, if a Jew finds an animal or fowl slaughtered according to Jewish ritual law in a place where the majority of the slaughterers are Jewish, the finder may keep the animal or fowl only if the majority of the community are gentiles. The finder may keep the animal and presume that the loser abandoned hope of recovering the animal or fowl because the majority of the inhabitants of the community are gentiles.

Also, if a bird seizes a piece of recognizably kosher meat and drops it along its flight, the finder of the meat may keep it as a lost object, even if the majority of the town's inhabitants are Jewish, presuming that the owner will have abandoned hope of recovering the object.

The subject matter of this lesson is more fully discussed in Volume VIII Chapter 260 of A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law by E. Quint. Copies of all volumes can be purchased via email: orders@gefenpublishing.com and via website: www.israelbooks.com and at local Judaica bookstores.
Questions to quint@inter.net.il

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