A coatroom swap

Hi,

I took the wrong coat from the shul coatroom, and when I came back mine was gone. May I wear the coat I took incorrectly, temporarily?

One who accidentally takes the wrong coat in shul, and then returns to find that his own coat is gone, may not continue to use the coat he took; perhaps a third party took his coat. Rather, one must seek the rightful owner of the coat he took. Further: Party A who used Party B's coat must offer to pay for that benefit, unless it turns out that Party B was using Party A's coat simultaneously.

It would be good for communities to implement a formal policy allowing people to use coats or boots taken by accident until the owner could be identified.

(Bava Basra 46a; Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 136:2; Aruch haShulchan Choshen Mishpat 136:2; Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:9:7; Mishneh Halachos 5:276)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Lost and Found in a Synagogue

Hi, One who finds items in a synagogue, in a protected area, should leave them there. Where they are in an unprotected area, he should move them to a protected area. The item should be announced in the synagogue, verbally and in writing. It should also be publicized in nearby synagogues which the owner might have frequented. See the responsum referenced below regarding the duration of the announcements, and what to do after that time expires. (Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:9:8) Have a great day, Mordechai

Mixed-up raincoats in shul

Hi,

One who accidentally takes the wrong raincoat in shul, and then returns to find that his own raincoat is gone, may not continue to use the raincoat he took.

It would be good to implement the custom recorded regarding overshoes in Aruch haShulchan Choshen Mishpat 136, to agree communally that those whose coats are switched may continue to use them until they meet each other and are able to trade them to each other. However, even in such a case one would be required to return the coat he took to the rightful owner once he was identified, even where his own coat was still missing. Further, in this last case he would be obligated to pay for the benefit he received from the coat, since the owner was not the person who took his.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:9:7)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Protecting people who do the right thing

Hi,

Technically, a person who finds an item and returns it to the owner should be required to swear that he did not harm the item, and that he is returning everything he found. However, to ensure that people will guard and return lost property, the court does not recognize the right of an owner to demand that oath.

This is much like the American "Good Samaritan" law which absolves a rescuer from liability for any damage which takes place during administration of CPR.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 267:27)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Reimbursement for maintaining a found item

Hi,

If I find property which requires maintenance, such as an animal requiring feeding, then when the owner claims the property, I may demand reimbursement for that maintenance.

I need not swear an oath to validate my cost estimate; this oath should be a requirement, but the sages waived it due to concern that people would refrain from taking care of lost property rather than face swearing an oath.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 267:26-27)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Responsibility for found items

Hi,

One who announces that he has found property becomes an official guardian of the item. He must protect it from harm, and do what is needed to maintain its state.

If this guardian is careless, and that carelessness results in depreciation or destruction of that item, then he is responsible to reimburse the owner at such time as the owner comes forward to claim it.

If the item is one which is easily replaced, the finder may 'purchase it' and use it for himself, paying its value to the owner when he claims it. (Some rule that this is only true if the item is one regarding which the owner wouldn't care whether he has that specific item, or any other item like it.)

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 267:15-17, 21; Meirat Einayim 267:30)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Returning lost property to unethical people

Hi,

If a person is known to be unethical, and he claims an item you have found, you should not return it to him even if he provides identifying information. This is because the system of using "identifying information" is vulnerable to wanton abuse.

A person who is known to be unethical must actually bring witnesses that the item is his.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 267:5)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Care in announcing a lost object

Hi,

When announcing that one has found an item, one should not be too specific - lest someone falsely claim the item as his own. One should announce that he discovered a coin, or a garment, or a document, and then the claimant will have to identify its unique characteristics in order to get it.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 267:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Finding the owner

Hi,

One who finds lost property and cannot identify the owner should announce the item in the synagogues and study halls, but only after services and not during them.

One who fears that the item will be stolen from him by unsavory people due to excessive publicity should instead spread the word person-to-person.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 267:3; Meirat Einayim 267:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Re-returning

Hi,

One must return a lost item until it is fully "returned." This means that if one is returning an animal, and one puts it in the owner's yard and it runs away again, one must continue to return it.

The exception, as we said several emails ago, is if the owner is irresponsible, knowingly creating a situation in which his property will be lost.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 267:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Returning a menace

Hi,

One who finds a dangerous animal, such as an animal which is known to harm children, does not return it to the owner. Rather, anyone who finds such an animal should destroy it.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 266:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Demanding payment for returning lost property

Hi,

One may not demand payment in exchange for returning a lost object. However, one who loses time from his own work in order to return someone's property may demand S'char Batalah payment.

The extent of S'char Batalah payment is subject to some debate. It is either:
a) The value of the work one lost,
or
b) The amount one would have to pay someone in his line of work, to get him to take that time off.

Both opinions have strong sources behind them.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 265:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Undignified Retrieval, part II

Hi,

We learned yesterday that one is not required to return someone's lost property if it is beneath his dignity. We defined "beanth his dignity" as a case in which one would not even retrieve such an item, in such a position, for himself.

One certainly may transcend the law and forgive his dignity, and retrieve the item for the person.

However, there is a dispute as to whether one may transcend the law and return this object anyway, if a person's dignity comes from his standing in Torah study - in other words, may a sage forgive the honor of his Torah and stoop into the gutter to pick up the tennis ball, or does he not have the right to do so, since the honor comes from Torah and not from himself.

Even if one may not do this, though, he certainly may transcend the law by financially making up the loss to the party who lost the item.

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 263:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Undignified Retrieval

Hi,

One is not obligated to retrieve and return an object to its owner if retrieval of that sort of item is beneath his dignity. The barometer is this: "Would I retrieve this item for myself?"

In other words: If one is getting into his car and he notices a dirty tennis ball in the gutter, then if he would stoop into the gutter to pick up his own dirty tennis ball, he must do so for someone else. If he wouldn't do it for himself, he need not do it for another (although, obviously, he may not then take it for himself).

More on this tomorrow...

(Code of Jewish Law Choshen Mishpat 263:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

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