Baba Metzia 2:8-9

Baba Metzia 2:8

If a person found books, he must read them once every 30 days (to keep them fresh). If he doesn’t know how to read, he must roll them. [Their books were scrolls, not bound as ours are.] The finder may not study a topic for the first time from found books (because of the wear and tear that he’ll inflict) and no one else may read the books with him (because they may pull in opposite directions). If a person found a garment, he must shake it out every 30 days and spread it out in order to preserve the garment but not for his own honor. Silver or copper vessels may likewise be used for their own benefit but not to the extent that they become worn. Gold or glass vessels may not be used by the finder until Elijah comes (to return them to their rightful owner). If one found a sack, a basket or anything that the finder does not normally handle, he need not take it.

Baba Metzia 2:9

Examples of lost property include the following: if a person found a donkey or a cow grazing by the road, it is not lost property. A donkey with its saddles askew or a cow running through a vineyard is lost property. If the finder returned the animal and it escaped again, so he returned it and it escaped yet again, even if this happens four or five times, he must keep returning it, as per Deuteronomy 22:1, “you shall surely return them.” If returning the lost object cost the finder a sela (a denomination of currency) in lost wages, he may not demand a sela from the object’s owner but the owner does pay him the wages of an unskilled laborer. If there is a local court, the finder may state his conditions before them. If there is no court, his own need to work takes priority over dealing with the lost property.