I remember reading in Pirkei About about attitudes to ownership: what's yours is yours etc.
This Daf has raised some tricky and uncomfortable points, which I hope you might be able to help with.
Is it the case that we need not return any article to an owner who may have given up on it, but we know who the owner is?
Should we not make any efforts to find the owner and just assume we can always keep what we find?
What if we find the owner at some later stage?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Much appreciated.
Mark Creeger, England, UK
Sholom Rav.
Let me first stress that it is not that the owner may have given up hope, but that he has definitely given up hope.
Having said that, the Gemara is teaching us here that although Ye'ush does not acquire on its own in all cases, there are two cases where it does: 1. Where the found article is being swept away`; 2. Where it is found in a place where many people walk. In both cases the Ye'ush is based on the fact that there is little or no chance that the owner will ever find his article. Chazal therefore ruled that the finder is permitted to keep the article and is under no obligation to search for the owner, or even to give it to him if he knows who he is.
Be'Virchas Kol Tuv.
Eliezer Chrysler.