(1) If you see your fellow’s ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore it; you must take it back to your fellow. (2) If your fellow does not live near you or you do not know who they are, you shall bring it home and it shall remain with you until your fellow claims it; then you shall give it back to them. (3) You shall do the same with their donkey; you shall do the same with their garment; and so too shall you do with anything that your fellow loses and you find: you must not remain indifferent. (4) If you see your fellow’s ass or ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it; you must help them raise it.
(ד) ואמנם 'השב האבדה' - הענין בו מבואר שעם היותו מידה מעולה בתיקון הענינים הוא גם כן ממה שתועלתו חוזרת חלילה - שאם לא יחזיר אבדת זולתו לא יחזירו לו אבדתו - כמו שאתה אם לא תכבד הוריך לא יכבדוך בניך - וכמו זה הרבה:
(4) The object of the law of restoring lost property to its owner (Deut. 22:1-3) is obvious. Firstly, returning lost items is a good feature for someone's character. Secondly, it has mutual benefits, for if a person does not return the lost property of their fellow human being, nobody will restore to that person something that they may one day lose, just as those who do not honor their parents cannot expect to be honored by their children.
1. Why does the text from Deuteronomy take time to outline each kind of animal that needs to be returned? Why not just say, "Anything that is lost you must return"?
2. How does my returning lost property benefit me? How does it benefit the world?
"Restoring property, says Bachya [ben Jospeh ibn Pakuda], is a fulfillment of the Torah's instruction to 'love your neighbor as yourself.' (Leviticus 19:18) Property is an extension of each individual. It is like the limb of one's body. Loving one's neighbor means taking care of all that is important to them as you would want them to safeguard all that is important to you. Returning lost property is a demonstration of love and concern for one's neighbors." -- Fields, 149
"Aharon Halevi (Sefer ha-Hinuch, 538)... [argues] that the commandment to return lost property is 'fundamental' and that 'all society depends on its.' It is not just a matter of one person taking care of another's possiessions or of 'loving' another. What is important here is the critical matter of 'trust' among human beings. A society depends upon the faith people place in one another. Without people feeling that they can rely upon one another--that others are looking out for what belongs to me and that I must look out for what belongs to them--society collapses into suspicion, selfishness, and bitterness. Whether people return or keep lost articles, says Halevi, is a significant indication of a society's health." -- Fields, 149
3. What other mitzvot (commandments) might be related to returning lost items?
4. Think about a time when you have found something that did not belong to you:
- Did you try to return it, or did you leave it where it was?
- Did you look for the owner at all or simply keep it for yourself?
- What does this section of Torah, along with our Sages, seem to want us to do when we find lost things out in the world?
5. If it is true that "whether people return or keep lost articles is a significant indication of a society's health," how would you rate the health of OUR society?
6. How might we be able to improve our own lives as well as the world around us?