Here’s another ethical issue and Jewish source response:

Case

Debbie is spending her summer vacation on rollerskates.  She is not at the rink. She is not practicing her dancing.  She is not doing double axels. Instead she skates over to cars and asks: “Do you want fries with that?”  She is a waitress at a newly created 1950s drive-in. One day in the parking lot she finds a gold coin purse with $280 in it.  She turns it in to Lost and Found. It stays there for a month. After a month she asks if anyone has claimed the purse. The owner tells her, “You can keep the purse if you want, but I am taking the money.”  Debbie says, “But I found it.” The owner says, “But you found it in my parking lot while I was paying you to say ‘Do you want fries with that?’” Because they both belong to the same synagogue, they go to the rabbi to solve the conflict. 

Answer

[a]  A suggestion was made that the found money should be given to tzedakah.  

While the money may be given to tzedakah, Jewish law does not require that it be given away.  In the Mishnah, Bava Metzia 2:2, we learn; “If you find one of the following things you must try to return them: Money in a purse, an empty purse, a pile of money.”

In the previous Mishnah, Bava Metzia 2.1, we learn: “The following found objects may just be kept: scattered money, small sheaves of grain in public areas, loaves of baker’s bread.”

Based on this text we learn that once we attempt to find the person who lost the purse and the money, it can be kept.  It need not be given to tzedakah. 

[b] In Mishnah 6 of the same chapter we learn that after a reasonable amount of time trying to find the owner, the finder can keep what is found.  Mishnah 4 talks about a find in a store. It says if the find is behind the counter, the store owner keeps it; if it is in front of the counter (like in the parking lot), the finder keeps the find.  

[c] In the Gemara, Bava Metzia 12a, we learn that if someone works for a wage for another person, she or he may keep what he or she finds on the job, unless collecting funds is part of the job.

The bottom line: Debbie can keep the money and the purse.

Joel Grishaver, “You Be the Judge”, pgs. 79-80

Used with permission from Joel Grishaver