By Rabbi David Cohen:
And so shall you do for any lost article of your brother that may become lost from him and you find it; you shall not hide yourself. (22:3)
Horav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, zl, writes that he once received a letter from a law professor at the University of Buenos Aires asking about yiush. How can a natural, emotional response to a depressing situation like losing something very dear to a person permit this object to whomever discovers it? Are we a nation of wolves waiting to pounce upon anything that our fellow man loses?
The Montreaux Rosh Yeshivah explained that secular law, “sanctifies” individual ownership the object belongs to “me”; it is “mine”; “I” am its owner. It is, therefore, natural that, in order for the ownership to come to an end, it takes an action to end ownership. A proactive act of acquisition is obviated by another proactive act of relinquishing ownership.
Jewish law believes L’Hashem ha’aretz u’meloah, “To Hashem belongs the land and everything within it.” There is no such thing as individual ownership, since everything belongs to Hashem. The Almighty has granted each individual owner who acquires an object special zechuyot, rights, to use the item. After all is said and done, however, everything continues to belong to Hashem. He allows us to use it by virtue of our act of acquisition. The rights of ownership are not an absolute, limitless, unrestricted dominion; rather, the Torah restricts the propriety of the “owner” to the laws outlined by the Torah. The Torah has “determined” that when one abandons hope of retrieving his object, it becomes ownerless, and whoever takes it for himself may do so without any concern.
This is such a practical – yet powerful – way of looking at our material possessions. We have lost sight of the true Owner of all that exists: Hashem.