Ki Teitzei: Losers Keepers

How much access, if any, should the NSA have to your communication records? That’s a hotly debated topic these days. At the root of that question lies the unavoidable conflict between the two great hallmarks of civilization, private property rights and successful, lawful government that protects its citizens from avoidable harm.

Our Torah insists on respecting the rights of ownership. One of the four sections of Shulchan Aruch, the code of Jewish law, is devoted completely to monetary laws. That section, called Choshen Mishpat, is, arguably, the one that is dealt with most extensively and in the greatest depth by the subsequent commentaries. Leaving no stone unturned, they protected our rights in every way imaginable, for, as our Sages taught us, “Deciding the law of a penny is as important as deciding the law of great amounts of money.”

Until the destruction of the Temple, and in smaller measure even beyond, we always possessed our own governing system. Going back to our earliest history, we wanted to “upgrade” from a form of self-government where every individual had the opportunity to bring his grievances to a shofet or judge, to a full-fledged monarchy. our leader at that time was Samuel. Famous as an eminent prophet, he was also the shofet. Interestingly, he cautioned us against taking that step because a king would have too much access to our private possessions.

“He will take your fertile fields… as gifts for his servants… He will take your donkeys to do his work… He will take ten percent of your sheep… And you will cry out… to no avail.”

For although mankind needs both a means of government and personal control over their possessions, there has never been an easy resolution to the frictions that those two necessities create. There will probably never be.

But let’s try to take a step back to understand the importance of one’s own legal rights. Why are they so important that they are pretty much universally accepted, at least among the civilized world that we are used to? Why do we all agree to recognize laws that prevent us from infringing on someone else’s belongings?

The answer is pretty much as simple as it gets. I want people to respect my rights; it’s important for me to be able to keep and enjoy my own things. I would like for those rights to be enforced, so it is worth it for me to go along with a system that allows other people to be granted those rights as well. These ideas are subscribed to by society at large, and they have led to many successful communities throughout history and across the globe. All that is true, but there is a deeper level to all of this as well.

Do you know of a legal system that requires its adherents to temporarily relinquish ownership of their possessions every so often? Does any country have laws that demand one to resell a house that was bought legally to its original owner? On the other hand, has any law been written that has so much respect for personal assets that it doesn’t allow one to give away willingly a certain percentage of his own money? How about a regulation against allowing oneself to lose money in order to secure a loan?

There actually is one. It is our very own, beloved, G-d-given Torah.

It requires us to leave the produce in our fields (in Israel, once every seven years) available for anyone to take. It includes a law that the sale of certain houses (in certain cities in Israel) be refundable if the seller comes up with the funds to repurchase it within the year of sale.

The Torah encourages us to be charitable. We are told to tithe our earnings. But it also tells us not to give away more than 20 percent of what we earned, even for very worthy causes. And the Torah is very strict against paying interest for loans. The money that we have is meant for us to keep, and we may not use it to speculate by securing a loan, even if it seems that it will bring in great profit. (The actual laws against paying interest include many technical details beyond the scope of this short thought which is only a presentation of the basic concept.)

These laws and many others lead us to one conclusion. The Torah teaches us to view possessions not as conveniently ours, but as G-d’s gift to us. It is His benevolence that He wants us to enjoy, and also that He holds us responsible to use wisely and responsibly. We must share our wealth when He so desires, and we must make sure not to squander or lose it when He does not allow us to.

This point really hits home in the Torah’s approach toward lost objects. These G-d-given laws that are unparalleled in any other system speak for themselves. Here is an excerpt, loosely translated, from this week’s parsha, Parshas Ki Teitzei:

Should you see your neighbor’s sheep wandering aimlessly, do not ignore it. Return it to him. If your brother lives far away from you, perhaps you don’t even know who he is, bring his sheep into your own home. Make sure it stays well until the owner searches it out, so that you can return it to him intact. The same applies to your neighbor’s donkey, his garment or to anything else he lost. You may not ignore them!

Returning a lost object to its rightful owner, being held responsible for its wellbeing until it can be returned, is not simply a matter of convenience. It is G-d’s way of ensuring that what He intended for a particular individual remain in his possession exclusively. It is His way of sending us the message of the important role that property plays in His eyes.

In fact, there are cases where halacha finds technicalities that prevent the finder from ever positively identifying the true owner. However, since there really is an owner and it is just that we can’t locate him, the finder cannot treat the find as his own. It was not divinely meant for him. He must keep the object in safekeeping “until the coming of Elijah,” a reference to our tradition that Elijah will return to us (to herald the coming of the Messiah) and provide us with all our missing knowledge, so we will then know to whom to return what we have held so long. In Judaism, then, respecting the mundane concept of ownership of assets is inextricably bound with our firm belief in our glorious future.

May we merit Elijah’s coming very soon!

Rabbi Elimelech Trenk

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