Until When Must One Keep a Found Object
Question
I found one gold-filled earring near a synagogue (a lost object). Am I obligated to keep it until Elijah comes, or is there another way to fulfill the mitzvah of returning a lost object?
Answer
Shalom u’vrachah
One must announce the lost object in accordance with the halachah.
After about a week, if it is a standard item of which similar ones can be obtained in stores, you may throw it away, and write down in a safe place that when Elijah comes and says whose it is, you will pay him its value.
An item of which it is not possible to find a similar one must be kept until the person who lost it is found.
Answered by
Answers questions at Rav Amram Fried's Beit Horaah
Smicha "Yoreh-Yoreh" (2012), Rav Amram Fried's Beit Horaah
Orach Chaim, Yoreh Deah
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