#5840 - Finders Keepers?
Shalom, Dear Rabbenu Shlit"a,
A week ago, in a kosher supermarket I found an open envelope with no name nor any writing on it. Inside there were two twenty dollar bills. I asked the person who was nearby. It was not his.I gave it to the cashier who called the manager.
The manager asked for my name and telephone number. The money has been kept in the store waiting for someone to ask for it. Does the money belong to the store or to the one who found it?
In case the money belongs to the one who found it, how long should the store keep it before calling the finder?
Thanks.
Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit’a maintains that if no one claimed the money found after the proper time passed, in principle it belongs to the one who found it.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a
Answered by: Hagaon Rav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
Published: March 13, 2026