<div class="gmail_quote">2009/3/17 <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:Saul.Z.Newman@kp.org">Saul.Z.Newman@kp.org</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br><font size="2" face="sans-serif"><a href="http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/31510/No+Mitzvah+to+Return+Non-Kosher+Cellular+Telephone.html" target="_blank">http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/31510/No+Mitzvah+to+Return+Non-Kosher+Cellular+Telephone.html</a></font>
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<br><font size="2" face="sans-serif">this is akin to the secular legal
principle , where a judge won't adjudicate in small claims when eg
a drug deal went bad ---because hands aren't clean.</font>
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<br><font size="2" face="sans-serif">so here too, no mitzva to return, a
non-kosher object......</font><br></blockquote></div><br>Previously I asked on Avodah if there was an obligation to return a razor to someone if we know they are going to use it wrongly. We concluded then that no, there is no obligation to return the razor.<br>
<br>A few cases to help clarify what the implications of this should be.<br>1) If it is a "non-kosher" phone and you know for a fact that the person is using it for inappropriate uses - Should not be returned like the razor<br>
2) If it is a "non-kosher" phone and you don't know what the person uses it for - Why should you not have to return this object? If I find a wallet on the street with money in it, and I'm not sure if the person is going to buy a cheese-burger with that money or not I shouldn't return the object?<br>
3) I find a computer on the street - Do I have to go through the computer's history to see if the person is going to kosher websites before returning it to him?<br><br>If it is a "kli she'mlachto l'issur" I would understand not being allowed to return it. But a phone's inherent use is halachically permitted and it shouldn't be up to me to try and control someone else's yetzer.<br>
<br>~Liron<br>