Lost and Found

By Rabbi Chaim Hillel Raskin

I found a pair of tefillin in an airport. Am I allowed to use it?

• A lost object that belonged to a Jew can be acquired by the finder if the object is found after the original owner has given up hope of finding it (yiush).¹ If one finds the object before the owner gives up, he must return it, even if the owner gives up later, since at the time when he found the article it belonged to the owner, and yiush doesn’t take effect afterwards.²
• Although one who loses a distinct object (with a siman) in a frum area is not assumed to have given up since he believes that the one who finds it will try to return it,³ if it is lost in a place where the majority of passerby are not Jewish he doesn’t expect to get it back.⁴ Nonetheless one should to return it to the owner anyways.⁵
• Regarding holy articles some poskim claim that the owner does not give up hope even when they were lost in non Jewish area, since a non Jewish finder will probably sell it to Jews and it will make its way back to him.⁶ Therefore, one who finds the tefillin should publicize the find in every way accessible to him⁷ (though he is not obligated to spend money on this⁸).
• Still, if the finder cannot locate the owner, he may record the value of the tefillin and commit to compensate the owner should he be located. Some base this on the rule that people are happy when a mitzva is done with their objects, and so the owner will be happy that his tefillin is being put to use.⁹
• Other poskim permit using the tefillin since they are a common item and the original owner will always be able to purchase another pair with the money he will receive.¹⁰ (This rule can be applied to other common items as well and this is the accepted psak by contemporary poskim.¹¹) Some thus suggest that if the tefillin appear to be precious, the owner may not want to part with their tefillin, and this permission does not apply. ¹²

Reprinted with permission from  Lmaan Yishmeu – a project of Merkaz Anash. To see more articles visit Merkazanash.com

1. שו”ע חו”מ סי’ רס”ב סעי’ ה’.
2. תוס’ ב”ק ס”ו ע”א ד”ה, וכן נראה שהוא דעת רבינו הלכות אבידה ס”ג (כשיש סימן). וברמב”ן במלחמות ב”מ כ”ו ע”ב הטעם שהוא שלוחו של בעה”ב (וראה דברי רבינו שם בס”ב בחפץ שאין בו סימן). ונפק”מ כשהרים החפץ בכוונה לגזלו אזי לטעם הב’ חל היאוש.
3. שו”ע שם סעי’ ב’.
4. שו”ע שם סי’ רנ”ט ס”ג.
5. שו”ע שם ס”ה. וראה שוע”ר חו”מ הל’ אבידה ומציאה סי”ח וס”כ.
6. רמ”א חו”מ סי’ רנ”ט ס”ג. וראה שוע”ר שם סי”ז “וחייב להכריז”.
7. שו”ע שם סי’ רס”ז ס”ג ונו”כ.
8. שו”ת אגרות משה חו”מ ח”ב סי’ מה.
9. רמב”ם הל’ אבידה פי”ג הל’ י”ד ע”פ ב”מ כט ע”ב.
10. ראה שו”ע שם סי’ רס”ז סכ”א, סמ”ע סק”ל. וראה ערוה”ש סי”ד.
11. סי’ תס”ד. תשובות והנהגות ח”ג
12. מנחת אלעזר ח”ד סי’ ט’.