Jewish Ethical Dilemmas Rimonim Shavuot Program, 2018

(4) When you encounter your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering, you must take it back to him.

MISHNA: In a case where one finds lost items, which found items can the finder keep, and which found objects is the finder obligated to announce his find so that the owner of the lost items can come and reclaim them?

These found items belong to finder: If one found scattered produce, scattered coins, bundles of grain in a public area, round cakes of pressed figs, baker’s loaves, strings of fish, cuts of meat, unprocessed wool fleeces that are taken from their state of origin directly after shearing, bound flax stalks, or bound strips of combed purple wool, these belong to the finder, as they have no distinguishing marks that would enable their owners to claim them. This is the statement of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Yehuda says: If one finds any lost item in which there is an distinguishing mark, he is obligated to proclaim his find to the public.

How would he do that?

If he found a round cake of pressed figs with an earthenware shard inside it or a loaf of bread with coins inside it, he is obligated to proclaim his find, as perhaps the owner of the item inserted them as a distinguishing mark by means of which he could reclaim his property in case it became lost.

(16) You should not traffic in slander (be a talebearer) among your people; neither shall you stand idly by the blood of your neighbor: I am the LORD.

Who is a slanderer/talebearer (rachil)? One who carries things and goes from one to another and says, "So did x say, such and such did I hear about x." Even though it is the truth, he destroys the world.

(14) Anyone who can save and does not save transgresses 'do not stand by the blood of your neighbour'. So too one who sees his friend drowning in the sea, bandits attacking him or a bad animal attacking him and he is able himself to save him or he could hire others to save him but he does not; one who hears idol worshippers or informers plotting harm for him or laying a trap for him and he doesn't tell his friend and inform him; or if he knows that an idol worshipper or a thug are on their way to his friend and he could appease them on behalf of his friend to change their intention and he doesn't appease him; and so too any similar case; One who does any of these transgresses 'do not stand idly by your neighbour's blood'.

(1) If one sees that his friend wishes to enter into partnership with someone, and he feels that he will certainly be harmed by this, he must tell him to rescue him from that harm, but the following five conditions must be met:

(1) They are: a) He must be careful not to immediately conclude that harm will result, but must reflect carefully from the beginning to see if the result will, indeed, be harmful.

(2) b) He must not exaggerate the matter to be worse than it actually is.

(3) c) His intent must be for benefit only; that is, to remove the harm from the first, and not because he hates the other.

(4) (And in this third condition, we shall include yet another matter — that aside from his intending benefit and not being motivated by hatred, he must first reflect as to whether benefit will actually sprout from this — as opposed to what happens very often, that even if tells him, he will not listen to him, but will enter into partnership with him, and afterwards, when his partner angers him with something, he will tell him: "He was right when he told me not to become your partner," and the like.

(5) d) If he can effect this benefit [in some other way] without having to speak badly of the other, he should do so.

When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should fight them? However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.

(10) And the law of not wasting applies not only regarding trees, but even one who destructively breaks vessels or rips up clothing or tears down a building or seals up a spring or wastes food violates the Negative Commandment of “Do not destroy”.

One who covers an oil lamp [causing the flame to burn inefficiently] or uncovers a kerosene lamp [allowing the fuel to evaporate faster] violates the prohibition of bal tashchit.

The root reason for this Mitzvah [bal tashchit] is known: ......... They will not destroy even a mustard seed in the world and they are distressed at every ruination and spoilage they see; and if they are able to do any rescuing, they will save anything from destruction, with all their power.

And what about eating them? If a pure species gives birth to [a creature which] looks like an impure species, it is permissible to eat [the offspring]; if an impure species gives birth to [a creature which] looks like a pure species, it is forbidden to eat [the offspring], for that which comes from an impure species is impure and that which comes from a pure species is pure. If an impure fish swallows a pure fish, [the pure fish found inside] is permissible to eat; if a pure fish swallows an impure fish, [the impure fish found inside] is forbidden to eat, for it is not its product.

(2) The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, sons of Saul. (3) The battle raged around Saul, and some of the archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers. (4) Saul said to his arms-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, so that the gentiles may not run me through and make sport of me.” But his arms-bearer, in his great awe, refused...

§ It is told that on the day that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi died, the Sages declared a fast, and they begged, i.e., prayed nonstop for divine mercy so that he would not die. The maidservant of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi went up to the roof and said: The upper realms (i.e., the heavens) are requesting the presence of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and the lower realms (i.e., those here on Earth) are requesting the presence of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. May it be the will of God that the lower worlds should impose their will upon the upper worlds. However, when she saw how....much he was suffering, she said: May it be the will of God that the upper realms should impose their will upon the lower realms. And the Sages, meanwhile, would not be silent, i.e., they would not refrain, from begging for mercy so that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi would not die, and she knew that it was their prayers that were keeping him alive. So she took a jug and threw it from the roof to the ground. Due to the sudden noise, the Sages were momentarily silent and refrained from begging for mercy, and Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi died. The Sages said to bar Kappara: Go and ascertain the condition of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. He went and found that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi had died...When he returned to the Sages he opened his remarks and said:...The angels triumphed over us...