Bava Metzia 24: Be Nice and Give It Back
Talking Talmud - A podcast by Yardaena Osband & Anne Gordon
Categories:
A story about Mar Zutra the Pious, when a silver cup was stolen, and Mar Zutra finds the guilty party. Unidentifiable items go to the finder - if the finder found isolated objects, but several together require declaring the find in the hopes of the original owner coming forward. Someone who saves an object from wild animals - keeps it, because it would have been lost anyway. Likewise, finding an item in a public thoroughfare where hopes of recovery are immediately dashed. 5 questions are asked to determine whether to publicize the find or not. Plus several cases of application and apparent contradiction as to whether the finder keeps the found item or has to publicize that it's been found - notably, in the marketplace and in the Biran River.