daf bit: Bava Metzia 19

[cellio]

Rabbah b. Bar Chanah once lost a bill of divorce in the beit midrash. When it was found, he said to the finders: there is a distinguishing mark that shows it is mine, and if you don't accept that, I would know my document by sight. The document was returned to him. The g'mara teaches that a distinguishing mark is sufficient identification of a lost object under biblical law, while recognizing one's property on sight is acceptable proof only for a torah scholar, whose word can be trusted. For this reason, Rabbah did not know which reason applied when his document was returned. (19a)

(Torah scholars get special privilege? I wonder how they reconcile that with the torah's various instructions to treat people equally regardless of circumstances.)

This story is tangential to a larger discussion of lost documents, but it does make me wonder: doesn't a divorce document contain the names of the spouses and issuers? Wouldn't that be a de-facto distinguishing mark?

Comments

[zevabe.livejournal.com]

Tractate Gittin frequently assumes that in one city there are two men named Yosef ben Shimon (or anything else presumably) who have wives with the same names.

Ordinarily, "If you let me see it, I'll be able to tell you if it is mine" is an invitation to deception. Most people must present signs (some descriptive details) before seeing the lost item. I guess we assume Torah scholars wouldn't lie, but other people might lie in such a case.