Which metzioth are his (the finder's) and which must he call out? These metzioth are his: If he found scattered fruits [(It may be assumed that the owner "despaired" of them, and they are hefker)], scattered money [(Since it has no distinct siman, the owner "despairs" of it, and it is hefker, and so with all of these)], small sheaves in the public domain, [where all tread upon them, so that even if it had a siman it is obscured], rounds of figs, loaves of a baker, [which have no siman, all of them being alike; but home-made loaves do have a siman.], strings of fish, pieces of meat, wool shearings that come from their provinces, [to exclude those that come from the tradesman's house, as taught below], bundles of flax, tongues of wool [dyed] purple — these are his. These are the words of R. Meir. R. Yehudah says: Whatever has a shinui (a distinguishing difference) must be called out. How so? If he found a round [of figs] and in it a shard; a loaf, and in it money. R. Shimon b. Elazar says: All anpuria vessels need not be called out. [("anpuria":) new vessels, which are not familiar to the eye, so that the owner cannot identify them as his own by visual recognition. (For sometimes a lost object is returned on the basis of such recognition, as in the instance of a Torah scholar, who does not prevaricate.) And these vessels, about which it is known that the owner cannot identify them by visual recognition, need not be returned. The halachah is in accordance with R. Shimon b. Elazar. When is this so? When they are found individually. But if they are found in twos, they must be called out, for the number is a siman. And if one finds a metziah in a broad thoroughfare in a city, where the majority are gentiles, even something with a siman, he need not call it out. And in a city with a majority of Jews, he must call it out.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
These are the findings. He [the finder] found scattered fruit. The unspecified case is that the owner had despair, and they are [now] ownerless.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
Introduction
The second chapter of Bava Metziah deals exclusively with returning lost objects. According to Exodus 23:4 and Deuteronomy 22:1-4, a person has an obligation to return lost objects to their owner. The mishnah is concerned with which objects are included in this obligation and with the question of the owner claiming his object by identifying it.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
Scattered Money. Since they don't have a noticeable marking, he [the owner] surely already had despair, and they are [now] ownerless. This is the reason for all of them.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
Since the Torah states that a person must return lost objects, it is necessary to decide which lost objects must be returned. A society could not operate if every lost object had to be returned. Imagine if every time you found a pen, or a coin or some other small not valuable item, you had to spend time trying to find the owners. Furthermore, there are some lost items which could not be identified by their owner as belonging to them, such as money or mass produced merchandise. If a person should lose one of these types of things, meaning either something that cannot be identified as his or something of little value, he does not expect to ever have it returned. Such a situation is called in Hebrew “yeush” despair, and the legal consequence is that the finder may keep the lost object.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
Sheaves. Small sheaves.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
Which found objects belong to the finder and which ones must be proclaimed [in the lost and found]? These found objects belong to the finder: if a man found scattered fruit, scattered money, small sheaves in the public domain, cakes of figs, bakers’ loaves, strings of fish, pieces of meat, wool shearings [as they come] from the country of origin, stalks of flax and strips of purple wool, according to Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Judah says: “Anything which has in it something unusual, must be proclaimed. How is this so? If he found a fig cake with a potsherd in it or a loaf with coins in it [he must proclaim them].” Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: “New merchandise need not be proclaimed.” Section one lists objects that are either not identifiable as belonging to a specific person, or of little value. We will learn the opposites of these items, meaning things that are of value and identifiable in the following mishnah. Therefore we will explain them more fully later on. According to Rabbi Judah, if there was a unidentifiable object which had something unusual about it, he must proclaim it. (We will learn the process of proclaiming a lost object later in the chapter.) For instance, a normal loaf of bread could not be identified as belonging to a certain person, and therefore the finder may keep it. If, however, there was money in the bread, the owner could identify it, and therefore the finder must proclaim it. According to Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar, mass produced merchandise need not be proclaimed. This would be something akin to tupperware in our day. Certainly before the item has been used its owner would not be able to give any special identification marks. Therefore the finder may keep it.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
In the public domain. Everybody threshes on them, and even if they [the sheaves] had a marker, it [the marker] was lost.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
Belonging to a baker. They don't have a marker, since all of them [baker's bread] are the same. However, home-baked bread has a marker.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
Brought from the country. [This is] to exclude those brought from a professional, as the next mishnah teaches.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
Purple wool. Wool that was died purple, and it was combed to look like a tongue.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
He found a cake. Of figs.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
Merchandise. New items that aren't familiar looking, and the owner hasn't gotten used to how they look. This is because sometimes lost items are returned just from recognizing them, for example to a scholar who doesn't lie. These items that are known that their owner's haven't gotten used to how they look aren't obligated to be announced. The halacha is like Rabbi Shimon son of Elazar. When [is this true]? When you find them one by one. However, if you find them two by two, you are obligated to announce, since their number is a marker. Someone who finds something in the street, or a large plaza in a city that has a non-Jewish majority, even if it [the item] has a marker, there is no obligation to announce. [However], in a city with a Jewish majority, there is an obligation to announce.
