02 Sep FINDERS KEEPERS… NOT

Finders keepers, losers weepers.
A child’s chant, but for those immersed in
Torah and mitzvos, hashavas aveidah,
returning a lost item is a way of life.
In this week’s parsha, Ki Seitzei, we read
about the obligation to go out of our way to
return lost property. “… you shall surely
return them to your brother.” (Devarim
22:1)
The Torah continues: “So shall you do for
his donkey, so shall you do for his garment,
so shall you do for any article of your
brother that may become lost from him,
and you find it, you shall not hide yourself.”
(Devarim 22:3).
It was an errand running morning. I
dropped off some clothing at the cleaners,
and on my way back to the car, spotted a
beautiful, well-made jacket laying on the
sidewalk. I assumed that someone must
have had an armful of dry cleaning and
dropped the jacket on the way to the
cleaners.

I did an about-face. Back to the cleaners,
this time with the jacket in hand.
“Does this look familiar to you? It must
have been part of a suit. Did anyone drop
off a matching skirt?”
“Oh yes. Someone was just here… but we
couldn’t do same day service so they left.”
I asked the proprietor if she could just hold
on to the jacket, hoping that the owner
would return to retrieve it, but she didn’t
want to get involved.
“Would you know the name of the person
so I can contact them?”
“Hirsch family.”
That was the only info I had. But
determined to do hashavas aveida, I took
the jacket home, and got to work, hoping
to locate its owner.
I dialed several Hirsch families in the
neighborhood. Finally… Success! I found
a grateful owner. I sensed a feeling of relief
in her voice. She couldn’t figure out where
she had lost the jacket. It made her outfit.
Without it, the skirt lost “the look”.

I lucked out. HaShem gave me an
opportunity to do a mitzva. He
placed the lost object right before
me. He even made it relatively
painless for me to locate the owner.
Opportunities to do mitzvos come
our way every day; we just have to
pick up on them. We can all use an
extra mitzva before Rosh
HaShanah. There is a world of
mitzva opportunities right before
us.
The mitzva of hashavas aveida,
returning lost items, is mentioned twice in
the Torah. In Parshas Mishpatim, we are
instructed to return a lost ox or a wandering
donkey to “oyivcha – your enemy”.
(Shemos 23:4). And, in Parshas Ki Seitzei,
the Torah commands us to return lost
property to “ochicho – your brother”.
Why the change of terminology from
oyivcha to ochicho – from enemy to
brother? One of the Torah commentators
explains that herein lies an important life
lesson. Unfortunately, we all come across
people whom we view as “the enemy”.
People with whom we disagree, people we
have trouble getting along with, people
whom we consider to be difficult. Even
then, the Torah teaches us, we must make
a concerted effort to help them, to return
their lost possessions. In the process,
with HaShem’s help, we will hopefully
become achim – brothers. Doing favors,
showing kindness to one another, brings
people closer together. Acheinu kol beis
Yisroel. We are all brothers. When we are
there for each other, we truly all become
one.
The Chofetz Chaim teaches in his sefer,
Ahavas Chesed, if one truly wants to
connect with another, do a favor, an act of
chesed.
The parsha opens with the words “Ki
seitzei la’milchama al oyivecha, when
you go out to war against your enemies.”
The Torah portions read during Chodesh
Elul are there to give us meaningful and
timely messages as we approach Rosh
HaShanah. “When you out to war….”
Each of us has an inner enemy, the yetzer
hara, that inner voice that tells us “It’s
hard. I can’t. It’s not for me. I can’t be
bothered. It’s not my problem, not my
worry. Let someone else take care of it. I
don’t have the time, the energy, the
ability.” It’s a war against that niggling
voice we all hear from time to time, a
voice that we have to fight.
HaShem gives us the opportunities. Like
the jacket that was lying on the sidewalk,

we just have to pick up on our messages.
The Or HaChaim gives us an additional
understanding of the mitzva of hashavas
aveida. “Hosheiv teshiveim – you shall
surely return them”. “Them”, says the Or
HaChaim, can also be referring to our lost
brothers and sisters. “V’im lo korov
ochicha eilecha – When your brother is not
near you”, meaning a fellow Jew who may
be lost, distanced from HaShem, seeking
purpose or mission, we are commanded
“v’asafto el toch beisecha — “you shall
gather them into your house”, invite them
in, open the doors of both your home and
your heart, and help them find HaShem.
My mother, the Rebbetzin, would tell a
story of a father who had twelve sons.
Each one of the sons had “issues”, save
one. Either they were ill, experienced life
challenges, or just lost contact with their
father. The one seemingly problem-free
son would often come to visit his father,
telling him not to worry about his brothers.
He would say, “I’m here. Have nachas
from me.”
But the father had no peace, no rest, as
long as any one of his children was in pain.
Little does the one son saying “have nachas
from me” comfort the father, who loves all
of his children.
It’s Chodesh Elul. HaShem is Avinu
Shebashomayim, our Father in Heaven.
It’s not enough to say to HaShem, “Look at
me. I’m doing well. I’m keeping Torah and
mitzvos”. HaShem cannot rest as long as
even one child is wandering, is in pain, or
distanced from Him.
None of us is the “ideal” child. Each of us
is lacking. Surely, we must begin by
bringing ourselves “home” – closer to
HaShem. But we must not ignore the many
who are searching for spirituality and are
unaware of the rich heritage of our people.
Those who are in need of friendship,
warmth and understanding. It is our
responsibility to open our hearts, to bring
them “home” to HaShem, to Torah and
to mitzvos.