Halachic Highlights

Question: May an owner offer a reward to anyone who finds his lost object? May the finder keep the reward?

Short Answer: Yes, according to many contemporary poskim, a finder may accept a reward, but some add that it is preferable for the finder to donate the reward to tz’dakah.

Question: May a claimant reclaim his lost object from the finder based on simanim (identifying features) alone or are character witnesses also necessary?

Question: If a finder finds a lost object with an identifiable feature but then loses the item himself, must he pay the value of the lost object to the original owner?

Question: May a person ignore (and not pick up) a lost object that has no identifying features?

Short Answer: While Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt”l and others ruled that one may ignore such an object, Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l ruled that a finder must pick up the object and hold onto it until Eliyahu HaNavi comes and the true owner is established.

Question: Is it permitted to simply return a lost object to a lost and found department in a store or must you try to track down the owner yourself?

Question: Must a wealthy person, who is not a talmid chacham, pick up and return a lost object that is beneath his dignity to be in his possession?