Q&A: Returning a Lost Item
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Returning a Lost Item
Question
Hello Rabbi. I saw the Rabbi's lecture on complexity and harmony; the Rabbi mentions there that it is written in the Shulchan Arukh that one who finds a lost item, even after the owner has despaired of recovering it, must return it. I wanted to ask: where is this written? Thanks in advance.
Answer
Bava Metzia 24b. Choshen Mishpat, sec. 259:5.
?
Rava was walking behind Rav Nachman in the market of the tanners, and some say in the market of the sages. He said to him: If one found a wallet here, what is the law? He said to him: It belongs to him. If a Jew came and gave an identifying mark for it, what is the law? He said to him: It belongs to him. But here he is, standing and crying out! It is treated like one crying out over his house that collapsed or over his ship that sank in the sea.