Obligation to Return Borrowed Book

Question

I borrowed a book from an acquaintance several months ago. She was not a super close friend, just someone who worked at a store I popped into a lot who I used to chat with. I have no contact info for her because my only contact was seeing her in this store I used to visit. She did not specify when she wanted it back, just that she wanted me to return it someday. Without warning, the store closed. Now I have no way to contact or even find her. All I know is her first name, which is a very common female name in the English language. It is unknown to me who owned the store or how to make connections. I asked around, but this is in a big impersonal city where seemingly most people don’t know or care about each other. I don’t know what to do now from a standpoint of ethics or Jewish law.

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Answers

  1. It sounds as if you need to hold on yo the book in a safe place in the hope that you will meet her again one day. The only practical suggestion that I can think of is that you ask the two stores on either side of the one that closed down if they have any contact information for the owner of the store. If they do, you can contact the owner and ask for your acquaintance’s contact details.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team