Lesson # 224 (part two) • Objects that may be kept by the
Finder When a river sweeps away an object from its banks, most often it will belong to the finder. Shimon rescues an object from a number of examples: a raging river, the ebb of the sea, a gentile, or a fire, or a fierce animal such as a lion, bear, leopard, or panther. These situations do not allow the average person to retake his object. The object belongs to Shimon, even if the owner Reuven, runs after the object and/or shouts that he has not abandoned hope of recovering it. Similarly, if the owner's fowls run away and the owner cannot retrieve them, they are deemed abandoned and subsequently belong to whomever finds them. In all these situations the intent presumed of the owner is that which a reasonable person acting under these circumstances, that is, abandoning hope of ever recovering the object. Fishermen using a dammed river to catch fish find an object behind the dam constructed and repaired by gentile fishermen. An object found in that location must be treated as an abandoned object. The lost object has a Jewish owner who will assume that if a gentile not bound by Torah law finds the object it will not be restored to him, and thus abandons hope of recovery. The opposite results when the Jews maintain the dam. Rights of a tenant to the found object: Assume that the owner of residential premises leases part of it to a tenant while the owner also continues to reside there. A third party, not the landlord found an object without an identification mark. The finder must restore it to the landlord or the landlord and the tenant. For example, the object does not belong to the finder since it was found on private premises. If the object appears to have been lost a long time ago, (e.g, traces of rust) prior to the tenant moving into the premises, it belongs to the landlord. If the tenant moved in prior to the object appearing lost, the object belongs to both the landlord and the tenant. If the object possesses an identification mark, the finder must pick it up and restore it to its owner. On the other hand, the landlord, who does not reside on the premises, leases the property to tenants where a party not a tenant, finds an unidentifiable object. The object belongs equally to all currently residing tenants. For example, on January 1, the landlord leased the premises
to Reuven, Shimon, Levi, and Yehuda. On February 1, Shimon moved out. When
Dan, a non-tenant found an object on March 1 it belongs to Reuven, Levi, and
Yehuda. If the tenants moved in and out one after the other, the object
belongs to the last tenant under the assumption that each tenant made a
thorough search upon vacating the premises. If the object has an
identification mark, it must be picked up and restored to the owner. For example, Reuven, the landlord, lives with Shimon, in a house with an adjoining courtyard, if a lame deer or birds that cannot fly enter the premises, (or if one finds an object that can be acquired by the premises), they belong to both Reuven and Shimon equally. In prior lessons, I stated that money found in a store or a bank may belong to the proprietor of the business. If someone finds money where the customers or the general public has access (and not in a location reserved for the employees of the store or the bank), the money belongs to the finder. In this scenario the shopkeeper (or bank) cannot acquire the object since, (1) the public at large has access to the premises, and, (2) the premises cannot acquire the object on behalf of the owner unless the premises are guarded to prohibit public entry. The community standards, as decided upon by Beth Din, will determine under which category a found object should be classified, subject to change from community to community and from generation to generation. Historically, the following may generally be kept by the finder: (a) sheaves of grain;(b) cakes of pressed figs; (c) strings of fish or slices of meat not cut in any unique manner; (d) wool fleeces in the original condition upon arrival from the country;(e) stalks of flax; (f) bread from a commercial bakery; (g) opened jars of wine or opened jars of oil; (h) produce in front of a vessel; (i) a vicious animal such as a dog or cat that kills children may not be kept by the owner and whoever finds it may kill it and keep the carcass; (j) a single nail or a single needle; (k) money scattered in front of a purse. In many instances Shimon may find and claim a lost object although he knows that it belongs to Reuven. The halacha recommends that Shimon restore the object to Reuven, that is to act Lifnim mishurat hadin. The halacha, however, makes an exception when the finder is poor and the loser is wealthy, wherein the finder need not comply with this extra-legal requirement. If the opposite is true (the finder is wealthy and the loser is poor), Beth Din will compel the wealthy finder to restore the found object to the owner. There are also instances where the law of the land require that the object be returned to the loser, although halacha would not enjoin the finder to comply. A Jew must abide by the law of the land and restore the object. In the tenth century, a case involving a boat belonging to a Jew sank, was raised by a gentile, and then sold to another Jew. The king decreed that whoever purchased the boat from the gentile should restore it to its original owner. When the Beth Din ruled that the community must abide by the law of the land, (i.e., by decree of the king) the Jewish purchaser had to restore the boat to the Jewish owner. The owner must pay to the buyer the same price the buyer paid to the gentile. In some communities Beth Din requires a finder of a lost object to return the object to the loser, even though technically the object should belong to the finder. This situation results when the object does not have an identifying mark or the majority of the inhabitants of the community where the object was found are gentiles. The subject matter of this lesson is more fully discussed in
Volume VIII Chapter 261 of A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law by E. Quint.
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