Q&A: Returning Lost Property
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Returning Lost Property
Question
Hello Rabbi!
Can an amount of money nowadays serve as an identifying mark?
Answer
I don’t think that, in principle, this is any different today from what it was in the past. But it seems this is a question of assessing the reality, and in every place and time it has to be considered on its own merits. The halakhic decisors discuss this at length (already among the commentaries on the Shulchan Arukh), and in many circumstances an amount of money is treated as an identifying mark.
And of course, beyond the letter of the law, one should return it in any case if it is known who the owner is. I’ll sharpen the point that the problem here is twofold: on the one hand, maybe it isn’t his. On the other hand, even if it is his, when a lost item has no identifying mark he gives up hope of recovering it. I’m speaking about the side where it is certainly his.