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BAVA METZIA 21

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SUMMARY

A receipt in the hands of the lender which has been affirmed by Beis Din is Kosher, but if it is not affirmed by Beis Din it is Pasul.
 
If a receipt is not affirmed but it was deposited with a third party or the receipt was written on the Shtar underneath the signatures it is Kosher. (1)
 
If someone finds scattered fruit, scattered money, bundles in the Reshus ha'Rabim, pressed fogs, or bakers' loaves, strings of fish, pieces of meat standard sheerings of wool, bundles of flax or strands of combed purple wool he may keep it. ( 2)
 
R. Yehudah says that if a person finds a lost object with something different about it, such as presses figs with earthenware inside or a loaf with money inside, he must announce it.
 
R. Shimon Ben Elazar says that if new utensils are found that the owner is not yet familiar with it he does not have to announce it. (3)
 
If fruit is found and it was obvious that it fell from its owner without his knowledge even if it is not scattered it belongs to the founder because there is no Siman.
 
If the fruit that was found was placed there by its owner and he forgot about it even if it is very scattered the finder may not take it. (4)
 
If scattered grain is found that was left by the owner on the threshing floor if a Kav of grain is scattered over an area of four Amos the finder may take it. (5)
 
If a half of a Kav of grain scattered in an area of two Amos, or two Kav of grain scattered in an area of eight Amos was found on the threshing floor it is a Safek if the finder may take it. (6)
 
If a Kav of sesame, or dates, or pomegranates is found in an area of four Amos on the threshing floor it is a Safek if the finder may keep it. (7)
 
If someone finds a lost object that has a Siman he may not keep it even if the owner was subsequently Meya'esh since it came into his hand before Yi'ush.
 
If someone finds a lost object that was flooded away by a tidal wave or a river which overflowed its banks he may keep it even if it has a Siman.
 
If someone finds a lost object that doesn't have a Siman but the owner doesn't yet know that he lost it according to
 
Abaye he may not keep it since it came into his hands prior to Yi'ush, while Rava argues.
 
If money is found in a Beis Keneses or Beis Midrash or any place which is frequented by the public he may keep the money.
 
Once Nemushos have gone through the field the Leket is permitted for everyone to take.
 
R. Yochanan says Nemushos are the old people who walk slowly through the field with their canes, while Reish Lakish says the Nemushos are the people who touch everything. (8)
 
If someone finds dry figs on the side of the road even if they are found next to a field where dry figs are laid out to dry he may keep them and they are Patur from Ma'aser. (9)
 
If a fig tree overhangs a Reshus ha'Rabim it is permitted to take the figs that are found in the Reshus ha'Rabim underneath the tree, but if it is an olive or carob tree it is forbidden to take the fruit underneath the tree. (10)

A BIT MORE

1. If the receipt was deposited with a third party it is Kosher because the lender who deposited it put his trust in the third party. If the receipt is written in the Shtar it is Kosher because if it the loan had not already been paid off he would not have written the receipt in the Shtar.
 
2. None of these items have a Siman and therefore the owner is Meya'esh and it is Hefker.
 
3. A Metzi'ah is returned to a Talmid Chacham with Tevi'as Ayin (he doesn't have a Siman but he recognizes that it is his), but if it is new since there is no Siman and there is no possibility of Tevi'as Ayin he doesn't have to announce it.
 
4. Since the owner placed it there he knows where it is and when he remembers that he forgot it he will come back and get it and therefore the finder shall leave it where it is.
 
5. The owner was Mafkir it because it is too much trouble to gather it up, but if a Kav of grain was scattered over a smaller area than four Amos the finder may not take it because the owner will come back and gather it up.
 
6. It is a Safek if the reason why a Kav in four Amos may be taken is because it is too much trouble for the owner to pick up and he is Mafkir it and consequently a half of Kav is not as difficult to pick up and therefore the finder may not take it, however if he finds two Kav in eight Amos the finder certainly may take it because it is even more difficult to pick up, or maybe the reason why the owner is Mafkir a Kav in four Amos is because it is not valuable enough to make it worthwhile for him to come back for it and consequently a half of a Kav is certainly not worthwhile to come back for and the finder may keep it, however two Kav is more valuable and therefore the finder may not keep it.
 
7. It is a Safek if the reason why a Kav in four Amos may be taken is because it is not valuable enough to make it worthwhile for him to come back for it and consequently if he finds sesame he may not keep it because it is valuable and the owner will come back for it, but dates and pomegranates are not that valuable and therefore the owner may keep it, or maybe the reason a Kav in four Amos may be taken because it is too difficult to pick up and therefore sesame certainly may be kept because it is even more difficult to pick up, however if he dates or pomegranates he may keep it because it is not difficult to pick up.
 
8. Once the Nemushos go through the field the poor people in town are Meya'esh on any Leket that may be remaining in the field and therefore everyone is free to collect it even people who are not poor.
 
9. The owner was Meya'esh on the figs and he is Mafkir them and Hefker is Patur from Ma'aser.
 
10 Figs get ruined when they fall off the tree and the owner is Meya'esh however olives and carobs are edible even after they fall and the owner is not Meya'esh because it is obvious that they fell off his tree and he expects that they will be returned to him.

BRIEF INSIGHT

TIDAL WAVE
 
If someone finds a lost object that was flooded away by a tidal wave or a river that overflowed its banks he may keep it even if it has a Siman. The Rema Paskens that even though one is not obligated to return the Aveidah it is the proper thing to do to return it. Also if the King or the Beis Din decrees that a person is obligated to return a Metzi'ah that was flooded away he must return it because it is Dina d'Malchusa Dina or because of Hefker Beis Din Hefker. The Shach asks that Dina d'Malchusa Dina doesn't apply if it goes against the Din of the Torah. The Ketzos ha'Choshen answers that since a person who returns a Metzi'ah after Yi'ush is commended and it is the fulfillment of the Pasuk which states that a person should do what is just and good the Rabanan instituted that a person is obligated to return it especially since the Malchus also decreed that one must do so.

QUICK HALACHAH

SHTAR IN A KLI
 
If someone finds scattered fruit in the granary if a Kav is scattered in four Amos, or more than four Amos, he may keep it because the owner is no longer going to gather it. If it was found in less than four Amos he may not take it because the owner may have left it there and the same Din is true if he finds more than a Kav in four Amos. If he finds a half of a Kav in two Amos or two Kav in eight Amos, or he finds a Kav of a few types of fruit, such as a dates and sesame, it is a Safek and he should not take it, however if he does take it he is not obligated to announce it. According to some opinions even if he finds only dates which is easy to pick up or he finds sesame alone which is Chashuv it is a Safek. (Shulchan Aruch CM 160:7)
 
According to one answer in Tosfos when he finds half of a Kav in two Amos by two Amos it is a Safek but if he finds half of a Kav in two Amos by four Amos he may keep it. (Shach)

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