MONEY MATTERS
Yei’ush – Abandonment #24 Aveidah Mida’as – Willful Loss (cont.)
Q: My neighbor is moving. He left many usable items on his lawn overnight unguarded, and other items at the curbside for collection. May I take those items?
A: We mentioned a dispute between the Rambam and Tur whether you may take for yourself aveidah mida’as, an item that the owner was knowingly disregardful with (C.M. 261:4). Nonetheless, when the owner clearly did not intend to make the item hefker, although he left it out carelessly, even Tur agrees that you may not take it for yourself. For example, someone who carelessly entrusts a young child with an item does not make it hefker. Therefore, if the child loses the item, although you are not obligated to make the effort to return it to the owner, you may not take it for yourself (Taz 261:4; Ketzos 261:1).
Thus, you may not take the items left out on the lawn. The same is true for delivered stock that was left outside a store before it opened. Conversely, many say that items left in a place destined for garbage collection are certainly hefker, because the owner intends that anyone can take them for himself so that even according to the Rambam you may take them (Rema C.M. 260:11; Shach 260:33; see Nesivos 261:1).
