"For Instruction shall come forth from Zion, The word of the L-rd from Jerusalem." -- Isaiah 2:3

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DEUTERONOMY — 22:1 take back

Torah Book & Portion, Book of Deuteronomy, Ki Teitzei (Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19), Source Book Keys, MORINIS
Page(s): 205-6
DEUT1093 "Do not go a single day without doing something for someone else, whether directly or by money or by speech." (motto from Rabbi Simcha Zissel's (student of Rabbi Israel Salanter) yeshivah). That this idea and guidance is a central principle of Jewish living is revealed in a fundamental difference between civil and Jewish law. Under common law a person who merely sees the lost property of another person is under no obligation to take possession of the object and to arrange its return. Jewish law, by contrast, says that one who sees lost property is fully obligated to involve himself in that property and to assist in its return. Three verses in the Torah [this and two subsequent verses] provide the basis for this obligation ... (Michael J. Broyde and Michael Hecht, "The Return of Lost Property According to Jewish and Common Law: A Comparison," in Jewish Law Articles, www.jlaw.com). Jewish law is based on an encompassing worldview that, in this case, reveals the responsibility we have to others. … Caring for the other is essential to our own spiritual lives. As the sage Hillel says in Pirkei Avot: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I?" He questions: "If I am only for myself, what am I?" The answer is that I am ego, nothing more. Mussar sees connecting oneself to others as a great antidote to the selfishness that lies at the root of every negative soul-trait. Only by stretching to bear the burden of the other do I extend my being beyond ego and come to live in the realm of soul that is my potential and my highest destiny.

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DEUTERONOMY — 22:2 claims

Torah Book & Portion, Book of Deuteronomy, Ki Teitzei (Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19), Source Book Keys, AMEMEI
Page(s): 238-9
DEUT1096 As important as this mitzvah is, and as strict as the Jewish laws are about returning lost objects, not all objects need to be returned. If the lost object is very common (such as a dollar bill) and has no specific identification marks and is found in a public area, then the finder may pick up the object and keep it immediately, as it is assumed that the owner, when realizing the object has been lost, will give up hope of ever retrieving the object due its unidentifiable nature. How does the finder ago about returning the object in Jewish law? Based on [this] verse "Until thy brother require it." The Midrash (Midrash, Mechilta Mishpatim 20) says this verse means that the finder of the object must publicly announce its finding. Thus, the finder must announce that he has found an object and wait for the owner to identify it with specific signs unique to that object, or by the specific amount, weight, number, or place lost (Maimonides, Hilchot Gezeilah Ve'aveidah 13:5). How does the finder specifically announce the object? ... Today, a person would announce by advertising the found object in the general area or neighborhood that the object was found. Of course, the cost of the advertisement would have to be repaid by the owner, once identified. How long would a finder have to keep announcing the found object before he would be allowed to "give up" and fulfill his obligation? ... After the destruction of the Temple, no set time limit was officially established, although sources list a thirty-day maximum for announcing (Tosefta, Bava Metzia 2:6). What happens if no one claims the object after it has been sufficiently announced or no one claiming to be the owner sufficiently identifies it as his or her own? In most societies today, the police will eventually let the finder keep the object if no one comes to claim it (even if not announced), usually after thirty days. In Judaism, a finder cannot ever take the object for himself or herself if it is identifiable and must leave it forever or until Elijah comes and returns it to the "rightful owner" (Maimonides, Hilchot Gezeilah Ve'aveidah 13:8).

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