What must be returned?

Hi,

The following classes of items must be returned to their owners:
1. Items which have identifying signs, such as a unique size, color, arrangement, or even placement in their location.
or
2. Items which are found before the owner realizes they were lost.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 262:3)

But we will need to add clarifying points in the next few posts.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Returning worthless property

Hi,

One is not obligated to return property which is worth less than the equivalent of a Talmudic Prutah. This is roughly equivalent to between 5 and 10 cents, American. (It's based on a volume of silver, and it fluctuates with the price of silver.)

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 262:1)

Chag Atzmaut sameach,
Mordechai

Careless owners

Hi,

If an owner is careless with his property, one is not required to return it to him. For example, one who sees a person leave his dog in an unfenced yard is not obligated to chase the dog and return it, when it leaves the yard.

However, others are not permitted to take advantage and collect the property for themselves.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 260:4; Shach 260:10)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Returning lost pets

Hi,

One who sees an unaccompanied animal wandering in the street, in a time or place when animals do not usually wander unaccompanied, should consider it to be a lost animal. He should return it to the owner.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 261:1-3)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

More treasures in the trash

Hi,

One who finds items which appear to have been accidentally discarded - such as silverware in a home's trash bin - is obligated to retrieve the items and return them to their owners.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 260:11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Finding treasures in the trash

Hi,

One who finds a sealed item in an area that is usually designated for trash should not take it - it is likely that someone put the item there for safekeeping.

However, if it is publicly known that the trash heap is frequently cleared, then one may take any item found there. One may assume that everyone is aware that items placed there are going to be cleared away, and therefore people do not use it for storage space.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 260:11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Do not touch

Hi,

One who finds an item which seems to have been placed there intentionally - such as a stack of coins - may not move it. If one is not certain, he should err on the side of caution and not touch it.

One who does remove it from the site, must then find the owner and return the item; he may not simply return it to the site, as the owner may have returned in the interim and seen that it was gone.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 260:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Finding an item in a well-traveled area

Hi,

One who finds money in a store, in the consumer-traveled portion, may keep it - it may be presumed that the person who lost the money does not expect to get it back.

If one finds it in the propietor area, though (such as behind the counter), one must return it to the store owner.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 260:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Returning an old item

Hi,

One who finds an aged item in a ruined structure, and does not know who the original owners of that structure were, is permitted to keep the item.

However, if the item is not aged then one may not take it - one must assume that it was placed there recently by a person who plans to retrieve it.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 260:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Protecting others' property

Hi,

'Returning a lost object' is not limited to picking up a physical item and restoring it to its owner. This Mitzvah also includes protecting the property of others.

For example, one who sees that a river is about to overflow and flood another's field is obligated to do what he can to dam up the river.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 259:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Returning lost property

Hi,

Today we begin to review a topic we covered a few years ago: Hashavat Aveidah, returning lost objects.

The Torah clearly instructs us to return lost objects, and so one who encounters a lost object must take care of it until he has a chance to bring it back to its owner.

One is not obligated to return an object if - before the finder found the item - the owner lost hope of ever retrieving it. This is because the owner's abandonment renders the item ownerless. It is, of course, a good practice to return it, but that is a separate mitzvah of chesed (generosity).

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 259:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Haircuts during the Omer - a quirk in this year's calendar

Hi,

As I noted last year:

Taking a haircut is considered to be an act of grooming that increases one's joy, and therefore one does not take a haircut during the mourning period between Pesach and Lag ba'Omer.

In some years - indeed, this year - there is an exception to that rule. If Rosh Chodesh (the beginning of Iyyar) is on Friday, then on that day one honors Rosh Chodesh as well as the Shabbat that comes the next day. In such a case, many authorities rule that one may take a haircut that day, despite its being during the Omer.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 493:2; Mishneh Berurah 493:5)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Business on Chol haMoed

Hi,

In general, business is prohibited on Chol haMoed (the Intermediate Days of holidays); it is stressful, and it takes away from one's concentration on the holiday. However, one may engage in business for the sake of preventing loss. One should minimize the strain involved, though.

The same is true regarding taking care of one's property. Thus one may water plants, if the alternative is that they will die, but one must do it in a manner which will not involve great strain.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 537:1-2)

Have a great Moed,
Mordechai

Laundry on Chol haMoed

Hi,

One may not do laundry on Chol haMoed (the intermediate days of holidays). This law is intended to encourage people to do laundry before the holiday, so that they will enter the holiday with a clean home and with clean clothes.

There are exceptions to this rule. The major exception is for clothing which will not last 8 days, so that laundering everything right before Yom Tov will not help. Example: Cloth diapers, or other baby clothing which gets dirty with similar frequency. One must still launder as much as possible before the holiday, but in the event of need one may launder it during the Intermediate Days, too.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 534:1; Mishneh Berurah 534:7)

Have a great Moed,
Mordechai

Omer - a list of relevant posts

Hi,

Here are a few posts related to the Counting of the Omer, which began Thursday night and runs up to Shavuot:

The basic mitzvah
The language in which we count
What time to count
Counting as early at night as possible
Knowing the correct number

Have a great Moed,
Mordechai

Birkat haChamah - Blessing the Sun

Hi,

In honor of Wednesday's ceremony, Birkat haChamah (The Blessing of the Sun)

Talmud Bavli, Berachos 59b:
The sages taught: One who sees the Sun בתקופתה, the Moon in its strength and the stars in their paths and the constellations in their order says “Blessed is the Creator of Bereishit.”

Which is followed by Abayye’s explanation:
When is this? Abbaye said: Every twenty-eight years, when the machzor returns and the tekufah of Nisan occurs in Saturn, on the night after the third day, the beginning of the fourth.

In other words: The sun, as seen from Earth, is said to pass through various Houses in the heavens. When we see the Sun return to the beginning of the House in which it was created - a point in space we calculate based on our calendar calculations - then we recite this berachah.

Have a wonderful Yom Tov,
Mordechai

Hard-boiled eggs at the Seder

Hi,

Some customarily eat hard-boiled eggs at the seder; several explanations are brought for this practice, including:

1) Eggs are part of a traditional meal of mourning, and we mourn for the loss of the Beit haMikdash [Temple], with its associated korban pesach;

2) The egg is used on the seder plate, in many traditions, to commemorate the korban chagigah, a celebration korban that Jews bring in the Beit haMikdash when they come visit for a yom tov [holiday].

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 496:2; Mishneh Berurah 496:11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Interruptions between the first matzah and Koreich

Hi,

After the "Maggid" portion of the Seder, we wash and then eat matzah. We then have marror, followed by the Koreich sandwich.

Some suggest that the ideal fulfillment of our Seder obligations comes in mimicking the matzah/marror consumption which took place in the Beit haMikdash. Therefore, one should not interrupt unnecessarily between the blessing recited on the matzah, and the consumption of the Koreich sandwich. One may speak, but only regarding matters directly related to fulfilling that mitzvah.

One who did interrupt would not need to re-recite the blessing.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 475:1; Mishneh Berurah 475:24)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Afikoman

Hi,

We have concluded, for now, our discussion of honoring parents.

For laws relevant to Pesach, please see the "Pesach" labels in the side menu. I expect to add a few more over the next few days.

The Afikoman is supposed to parallel the korban pesach (paschal offering); indeed, some consider the Afikoman essential to fulfilling the mitzvah of eating matzah at the seder.

Because of the parallel to the korban pesach, one may not eat anything after the afikoman; the korban pesach was supposed to be eaten to the point of satiation.

One may drink water afterward, though, and many permit other beverages. The only beverage which is clearly prohibited is a beverage which would qualify for the Four Cups.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 478:1; Mishneh Berurah 478:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Using a parent's first name

Hi,

We said here that one may not call his parents by their first name. However,one may tell people their names in the course of passing information. The issue is really in using their names in a familiar - and therefore less-than-respectful - manner.

(Pitchei Teshuvah, Yoreh Deah 240:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Debating with a parent

Hi,

A child may not contradict his parents, but one may do so in the course of studying Torah with the parent - asking and answering and raising issues, as is normal in the course of study.

(Pitchei Teshuvah Yoreh Deah 240:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai