MONEY MATTERS
Yei’ush – Abandonment #25
Purposeful Loss
Q: My neighbor was inspired by a mussar shiur and decided to throw out his television. He put it out for garbage collection, with a prominent sign, “For Disposal.” Is it hefker?
A: We mentioned that even according to the Rambam, who does not consider aveidah mida’as as hefker, when the owner places an item at the curbside for garbage collection, it is like hefker.
However, when circumstances indicate that the owner does not want the item to be available to others but rather wants it destroyed, it is not hefker, and others may not take it.
For example, if someone wants to destroy his item in anger and thereby soothe his anger — others may not take the item, which would negate the owner’s intended use (Machaneh Ephraim, Zechiya Mei’hefker #6).
Similarly, excess food that a grocery or bakery threw out at the end of the day is not necessarily hefker, because the owner may not want to train others to get it for free but wants it disposed of.
Here, too, the owner did not merely intend to remove the television from his house but rather wanted it disposed of, to make its way to the garbage dump. Therefore, it is not hefker, and people may not take it from the curbside.