One of my teacher’s in Rabbinical school told me the story of an Israeli woman, well educated in Jewish sacred texts, who had rejected Jewish religious practice and was studying in an ashram in India. One day on a stroll with her guru, they came upon a wallet. Picking it up her guru put it in his robe saying, “finders, keepers.” The woman left the ashram the next day.
This week’s Torah portion explains the sacred duty of returning lost things to their rightful owner. “If you see your fellow’s ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore it; you must take it back to your fellow. If your fellow does not live near you or you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home and it shall remain with you until your fellow claims it; then you shall give it back to him. You shall do the same with his ass; you shall do the same with his garment; and so too shall you do with anything that your fellow loses and you find: you must not remain indifferent.” (Deuteronomy 1-3).
To find something of value and take possession of it without making a good faith effort to return it is considered theft under Jewish law. A moral society is built on trust. Trust is built by people putting the interest of others above their own. When a server leaves an item we have ordered off the final bill and we don’t let them know, we are stealing. When someone avoids paying their taxes, especially a public figure, they are not being smart. They are stealing from all of us while corrupting themselves and society as a whole.
Theft and corruption erode the social fabric. That is why the Jewish woman had to leave the ashram. She could no longer trust her guru. As we continue to explore our behavior during the month of Elul, we should ask ourselves, have we taken advantage of others? Have we done our part to build social trust?
T Ki Teitzei, Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19 – Parashat ha Shavuah for Saturday, August 21, 2021
August 20, 2021 by Dean Kertesz • Drashot
One of my teacher’s in Rabbinical school told me the story of an Israeli woman, well educated in Jewish sacred texts, who had rejected Jewish religious practice and was studying in an ashram in India. One day on a stroll with her guru, they came upon a wallet. Picking it up her guru put it in his robe saying, “finders, keepers.” The woman left the ashram the next day.
This week’s Torah portion explains the sacred duty of returning lost things to their rightful owner. “If you see your fellow’s ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore it; you must take it back to your fellow. If your fellow does not live near you or you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home and it shall remain with you until your fellow claims it; then you shall give it back to him. You shall do the same with his ass; you shall do the same with his garment; and so too shall you do with anything that your fellow loses and you find: you must not remain indifferent.” (Deuteronomy 1-3).
To find something of value and take possession of it without making a good faith effort to return it is considered theft under Jewish law. A moral society is built on trust. Trust is built by people putting the interest of others above their own. When a server leaves an item we have ordered off the final bill and we don’t let them know, we are stealing. When someone avoids paying their taxes, especially a public figure, they are not being smart. They are stealing from all of us while corrupting themselves and society as a whole.
Theft and corruption erode the social fabric. That is why the Jewish woman had to leave the ashram. She could no longer trust her guru. As we continue to explore our behavior during the month of Elul, we should ask ourselves, have we taken advantage of others? Have we done our part to build social trust?
~Rabbi Dean Kertesz