It says in Devarim 22:3 “…and so shall you do with any lost article of your brother that may become lost from him and you find it; you shall not hide yourself.” Rashi says that you can’t cover your eyes and pretend that it’s not there.
We have a halachic obligation to return something that a fellow Jew has lost. That’s pretty easy to understand. The end of this pasuk say that we have a separate mitzvah not to “turn a blind eye to a lost object” (to use the words of the Sefer haChinuch, Mitzvah # 539).
During the entire year, and of course, during Elul, we are given an uncountable number of mitzvah opportunities. I wonder if I really see these mitzvah opportunities as gifts from Hashem or do I pretend they are not there?
The best I can do is keep my glasses clean and look for what Hashem, in his infinite Chessed, has given me.
Modern Uberdox
âI write not because I have the strength to write, but because I do not have the strength to remain silent.â -Rav Avraham Yitzchok Kook ztâl
nice, thanks! i’m gonna try to keep my glasses clean too!
Very nice thanks
Not sure what you mean by a lost object….
The parsha talks about the mitzvah of returning a lost object.
And I’m not female. đ
Nice writing, Neil.
One of the easiest Mitsvahs in theory, one of the hardest when it occurs (unless there’s a name and adress).
Good thought.
True. Community email lists are great ways to get the word out about lost objects.
On a different note, Rav Simcha Wasserman zt”l says that kiruv and bringing others back to yiddishkeit falls under the category of Hashavas Aveida. Pretty cool, huh. We’re returning lost neshamos to Hashem.