Lost & Found Wallet


A poor Jew finds a wallet with seven hundred dollars. At his shul he reads a notice stating that a wealth Jew has lost his wallet and is offering a fifty dollar reward to anyone who returns it.

Quickly he locates the owner giving him the wallet. The rich man counts the money and says, "I see you have already taken your reward."

The poor man responds, "What are you talking about?"

The wealthy Jew continues, "This wallet had seven hundred and fifty dollars in it when I lost it."

The two men begin arguing, and eventually they come before the community rav.

Both men present their case. the poor man first then the wealthy man who concludes by saying, Rabbi, "I trust you believe me.:

The rabbi says, "Of course." The rich man smiles, and the poor man is devastated. Then the rabbi take the wallet out of the wealthy man's hands and gives it to the poor man who found it.

"What are you doing?!" the rich man yells angrily.

The rabbi responds, "You are, of course, an honest man, and if you say that your missing wallet have seven hundred and fifty dollars in it, I'm sure it did. But if the man who found this wallet is a lair and a thief, he wouldn't have returned it at all. Which means that this wallet must belong to somebody else. If that man steps forward, he'll get the money. Otherwise, it stays with the man who found it."

"What about my money?" the rich man asks.

"Well, we'll just have to wait until somebody finds a wallet with seven hundred and fifty dollars in it!"