Q&A: The Commandment of Returning Lost Property
The Commandment of Returning Lost Property
Question
Hello Rabbi!
In tractate Bava Metzia 26b, the Talmud says that if I see someone searching for a lost item on an ordinary weekday, and I found his lost item, then it is mine—even if he is searching with a sieve in order to find his lost item, it is mine.
Is this talking about a case where I found the lost item after he began searching for it, or where I saw it fall from him? In that case it would have the status of something swept away by the sea. Either way, I don't understand it. Why shouldn't he return the lost item? It is certainly his, or at least there is a high probability that it is his.
Answer
The Talmud there explains this explicitly: we say that this does not prove that he has not despaired of recovering it, because he may be searching for a coin that was lost by someone else. The claim is apparently that the presumption is that there was despair, and therefore you acquired it. When there is despair, you acquire a lost item even if it is clear to you who the owner is, as with something swept away by the sea, so your question about the likelihood that it is his is not relevant. True, beyond the letter of the law there is value in returning it to the owner if you know who he is, but strictly according to the law it is yours.