Ki Teitzei 5784 - You must not be indifferent - Returning what is lost

Our obligation to return lost objects: what does this mean today, September 2024 / Elul 5784? Exploring hashevat aveidah through the lens of our obligations to pursue justice and welcome the stranger.

דברים כ״ב:א׳-ג׳

(א)לֹֽא־תִרְאֶה֩ אֶת־שׁ֨וֹר אָחִ֜יךָ א֤וֹ אֶת־שֵׂיוֹ֙ נִדָּחִ֔ים וְהִתְעַלַּמְתָּ֖ מֵהֶ֑ם הָשֵׁ֥ב תְּשִׁיבֵ֖ם לְאָחִֽיךָ׃(ב) וְאִם־לֹ֨א קָר֥וֹב אָחִ֛יךָ אֵלֶ֖יךָ וְלֹ֣א יְדַעְתּ֑וֹ וַאֲסַפְתּוֹ֙ אֶל־תּ֣וֹךְ בֵּיתֶ֔ךָ וְהָיָ֣ה עִמְּךָ֗ עַ֣ד דְּרֹ֤שׁ אָחִ֙יךָ֙ אֹת֔וֹ וַהֲשֵׁבֹת֖וֹ לֽוֹ׃
(ג) וְכֵ֧ן תַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה לַחֲמֹר֗וֹ וְכֵ֣ן תַּעֲשֶׂה֮ לְשִׂמְלָתוֹ֒ וְכֵ֣ן תַּעֲשֶׂ֗ה לְכׇל־אֲבֵדַ֥ת אָחִ֛יךָ אֲשֶׁר־תֹּאבַ֥ד מִמֶּ֖נּוּ וּמְצָאתָ֑הּלֹ֥א תוּכַ֖ל לְהִתְעַלֵּֽם׃ {ס}

Deuteronomy 22:1-3

(1) If you see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore it; you must take it back to your fellow.(2) If your fellow does not live near you or you do not know who [the owner] is, you shall bring it home and it shall remain with you until your fellow claims it; then you shall give it back.
(3) You shall do the same with that person’s ass; you shall do the same with that person’s garment; and so too shall you do with anything that your fellow loses and you find:you must not remain indifferent.

You must not remain indifferent...or: you must not hide yourself... or: you must not turn away. לֹ֥א תוּכַ֖ל לְהִתְעַלֵּֽם׃. (Deut. 22:3)

When I encounter another person who has lost something: what am I to do?
Whether that lost thing is an ox, or a sheep, or their home, or their safety, or their health, or their way...
What is my obligation to them?

Can I consider that all other people are my sisters and brothers, and that this pertains to any person I might encounter (and not only to a fellow Jew)?

What are my obligations to others?

אבן עזרא על דברים כ״ב:א׳:ב׳

והתעלמת. דבק עם לא תראה והזכיר שור ושה וכבר הזכיר החמורוכן משפט כל בהמה:

Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 22:1:2

AND HIDE THYSELF. This is connected to Thou shalt not see. Scripture mentions the ox and the sheep (v. 1). The ass was previously mentioned (Ex. 23:4). The same law applies to all beasts.

וכן משפט כל בהמה..."the same law applies to all beasts"...
thought experiment: could this be extended to human beings as well?

Here's an interesting commentary from Chizkuni (Hezekiah ben Manoah, or Hezekiah bar Manoah, a French rabbi and Bible commentator of the 13th century) which leads me to ponder the following: isn't a human being who's lost their way even more difficult to overlook than an animal in that situation? And if your answer is "no", then I'd ask: why isn't your answer "yes"?

חזקוני, דברים כ״ב:א׳:ב׳

והתעלמת מהם תרגומו ותתכביש, ולא תוכל להתעלם תרגומו לית לך רשו לכסיותה. לפי שוהתעלמת משתעי בבהמה שאין נופל בה לשון כסוי שאין אדם עשוי להטמינה בתיבתו אך נופל בה לשון כבוש פנים אבל גבי שמלתו נופל בה לשון כסוי שיכול לכסותה בכנף בגדו. ד״‎א קרוב לזה העלמה המתורגמן בלשון כבישה היינו בענין שישנו ברשותו.

Chizkuni, Deuteronomy 22:1:2

והתעלמתם מהם, “and you blithely ignore them or hide from them;” you must not ignore their plight. The examples chosen by the Torah are animals that are too big for you to be able claim that you overlooked them as their owners hid them.

So: if my intention is to not be indifferent, and if I am not hiding myself from what my fellow human beings have lost... how shall I act today, היום, September 2024, Elul 5784?

How far does my obligation to return lost objects extend?

Maimonides (the Rambam) teaches that hashevat aveidah השבת אבידה (the obligation to return lost objects) extends to obligations towards others who - for example - have lost their health or lost their way.

In a fascinating 2011 article, Benjamin Gesundheit M.D., Ph.D. further explores Maimonides' expansion of the obligation to return lost object to matters involving health and well-being.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3678790/

It is Rambam’s idea that the obligation to return lost objects applies to physicians in a particular way; he takes the verses from this week's Parsha - Devarim 22:1-3 as the basis in Torah for this mitzvah, and brilliantly expands these ideas [relying on Sanhedrin 73a and Bava Kamma 81b].

Rambam’s idea is that the lost object can be considered to be the patient’s previous state of good health. To my mind, this is a profound idea, and vastly expands the scope of how the work of a physician can be grounded in Jewish ethics. For me as a psychiatric physician (in particular, as a psychiatrist who serves people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco), I embrace this obligation as pertaining to individuals who have lost their way, lost their sense of self, lost their homes, lost their dignity, lost their sense of purpose, lost the sense of who they are.

Of course, it is not only our vulnerable sisters and brothers who are literally without homes who have lost their way at this crucial and challenging time in history. How many of us have lost our way, lost our sense of self, lost our sense of purpose, lost our connection to the inner compass that connects us with what we know to be true and just.

Today at this crucial moment in our history as Jews, I put a question to you who are reading this: can we explore our obligations are to one another, can we participate in returning the lost sense of security, lost sense of hope, lost optimism, lost confidence, lost connection with our fundamental values of pursuing justice and welcoming the stranger?

רש"י על דברים כ״ב:א׳:א׳

והתעלמת. כּוֹבֵשׁ עַיִן כְּאִלּוּ אֵינוֹ רוֹאֵהוּ:

Rashi on Deuteronomy 22:1:1

והתעלמת [THOU SHALT NOT SEE ANY OF THY BROTHER'S HERD … GO ASTRAY] AND HIDE THYSELF [FROM THEM] — i.e. one, as it were closes his eyes tight as though one does not see it.

The following commentaries on our verses suggests to me that we have an obligation to one another, when we perceive that the other has lost their way with respect to values, actions, holiness:

אור החיים על דברים כ״ב:א׳:ב׳

ואומרו נדחים על דרך אומרו (לעיל ד') ונדחת והשתחוית להם וגו' שהעובר פי ה׳ יקרא נדח, ויצו ה׳ לבל יתעלם אלא ישיבם לאחיו הוא אלקי עולם וכפל לומר השב תשיבם, נתכוון כי מתחילה ישיבם לדרך הטוב ובזה יתקרבו אל אביהם שבשמים, והוא אומרו תשיבם לאחיך:

Or HaChaim on Deuteronomy 22:1:2

נדחים, "gone astray;" the word is used in a similar sense in Deut 4,19: "and you are drawn astray." Someone who violates G'd's commandments is considered as having gone astray. The Torah commands that we must not ignore such people but bring them back to one's "brother" i.e. to G'd. The reason the Torah repeats the instruction השב תשיבם, "you shall surely restore them" is that if you will make the first move in setting such people on the right path they will complete the journey back to G'd under their own steam.

שפת אמת, דברים, כי תצא ד׳:ד׳

לא תראה כו' שור אחיך כו' השב תשיבם כו'. י"ל שכל מי שרואה בחבירו תועה מדרך הישר. וי"ל שור לשון הבטה. או שאר תנועה רעה צריך לתקנו. והעצה ע"י תשובה כמ"ש בסה"ק כל מה שרואה האדם שייך לו וצריך לשוב ע"ז ועי"ז מביא הרהור תשובה גם בחבירו וז"ש השב תשיבם. כי כלל ישראל הם א' וכשא' מקלקל צד קדושה שבו נשאר בכלל ישראל כמ"ש ז"ל זכה נוטל חלק חבירו כו'. אבל האדם צריך לחזור האבידה לבעליו. אשר תאבד ממנו ומצאתה. לא תוכל להתעלם שצריך להיות שלא יוכל לסבול ולהתעלם מחטא חבירו ג"כ:

Sefat Emet, Deuteronomy, Ki Teitzei 4:4

“You shall not see your brother's lost ox... you shall surely return it to him” (Devarim 22:1). This can be interpreted to mean that if you see your friend straying from the correct path, you should help return him to it. The word שור (ox) can also mean “looking” or observing. Thus, if you observe a negative action, it needs to be corrected.
The way to do this is through personal repentance. Holy texts explain that whatever one sees is a reflection of oneself. Therefore, when you see negativity in someone else, it implies a need for your own repentance. This act of repentance will, in turn, inspire your friend to repent, as indicated by the phrase השב תשיבם (you shall surely return them).
Klal Yisrael is one entity; when one person tarnishes their holiness, it affects the whole. As our sages say, if one merits, he receives his portion and that of his friend in the world to come. However, one must return what is lost to its rightful owner. The phrase “That is lost from him, and you find it, You shall not hide yourself from it” means you should not ignore your friend's loss of holiness due to sin. It should be unbearable to see a friend lose their share of holiness.

I'll close this commentary with a poem I wrote a few months ago, in which I am asking myself - and asking the reader - to consider how we can take up our obligations to others.

The poem is called:

elegy, another

have you heard the oneabout the mice overcoming the cat?those mice, they killed that cat.

really.

you can find it in Bava Metzia 97:a it’s right there

they say that mice killing a catis about as unexpectedas a woman overcoming a man

gender and power dynamics…an age old story

my teacher the Rambamhe’s instructed me that השבת אבידה applies to physicians and patients…

healers of the body: obligated to assist those who are sufferingin retrieving the health they’ve lost

the teacher inside methe one who listens deeplyshe is teaching methat השבת אבידה also appliesto losses of soul, of hope, of home

the teacher inside methe one who listens deeplyshe is teaching meto listen deeply too

to listen for the music of חסד and צדקeven when these belovedsseem drowned outby power’s ravening noise

so I’d like to ask you:mouse, or cat?

Rabbi Anita Josefa Barzman MD Founder, micro-mishkan.net

Topics