Here’s an ethical issue and Jewish source response:

Case

A fire broke out in a town and spread rapidly.  Everyone ran out of fear.  One Jew stayed long enough to save a really valuable book whose owners had abandoned it.  After the fire, the owners wanted their book back (and were willing to pay a reward).  The man who risked his life to save the book claims that the book is now his because it would have been burned up without his efforts.  

Who gets the book?

Answer

[a] The answer to this case is based on a Jewish legal principle called “Hefker.”  It means “abandonment.”  The idea is this: When a person loses something, until when does it have to be returned?  The answer: Until it is “Hefker.”  When is that?  When the original owner gives up hope of ever recovering it.  In other words, when it is abandoned.  There are rules about how long that takes, but in general, if the object can be identified, “a year and a day,” and if the object cannot be identified (If it has no distinguishing, describable attributes, like a twenty-dollar bill) immediately.

[b] This is not such a crazy idea, because it is just like the laws of salvage at sea.  Once a ship or a cargo is abandoned, it is available for salvage.

[c] In this case, since the owner of the book abandoned it and had no intention of recovering it, it is considered “Hefker” and available for acquisition by the person who rushed into the fire. 

[d] The Talmud has a similar case.  In Bava Kamma 155a we learn about this situation.  One person is carrying a cask of wine along a road; another is carrying a cask of honey.  Honey is worth more than wine.  The honey cask breaks and starts to leak.  The person carrying it gives up hope of bringing it to market.  The second man then pours out his wine and uses his cask to catch the dripping honey.

[e] The Talmud rules that the man saving the honey gets only as much honey as would cover his effort – because he saved what was not really ownerless, and because it was not really on the edge of destruction. Much of it could be recovered if the owner returned with another barrel.  

[f] But in the case of the fire, the book was about to be completely destroyed, the owner had given up hope, and therefore the man who rescued it gets possession.

That was the answer given by Rabbi Meir ben Barukh of Rottenburg.

Joel Grishaver, “You Be the Judge 3”, pgs. 50-51

Used with permission from Joel Grishaver