Deuteronomy, Chapter 22, Verse 3

"Vichein Ta'aseh Lachamoro, Vichein Ta'aseh Liseemiato, Vichein Ta'aseh Lichol Aveidat Acheecha- Ahser Tovad Meemenu U'matzata, Lo tuchal Liheet'aleim."

"And thus you should do to his clothing and thus you should do to any lost item of your brother- which becomes lost from him and you find it, you should not look away from seeing it."

Overview of the Biblical Text:

It is a Biblical commandment/Mitzva for someone to return a lost article which they have found. The Torah places great importance in numerous places of valuing other people's property. In this verse, the Torah lists three categories of lost articles: 1) animals, 2) clothing and 3) all other lost items.

When a person loses something, it causes them anguish. The verse presented here states, "you should not look away from seeing it". Rashi explains that someone may not feel like being bothered with the headache of finding the owner of the property and the responsibility of caring for the property (especially if it is an animal). The Torah, therefore, not only commands that a found item must be returned, but also that it should not be ignored.


Discussion/Activity Ideas:

1. Have you ever lost something special?
2. How does it feel to find something you thought was lost?
3. How does it feel to help someone else find something they lost?

Lost and found-
If your school has a lost and found box, bring the box into your classroom. Have the children sort all of the found items. Have them identify each item and put a description and picture of it on a card. Make a Lost and Found/Hashavat Aveida bulletin board with these cards. Encourage children to bring their parents in to check the bulletin board. Arrange some sort of reward system for each article of clothing returned to its rightful owner.

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